Erik Ten Hag plays down confrontation with Anthony Martial

The Dutchman was involved in a heated altercation with the French forward, who responded angrily to the head coach singling him and Marcus Rashford out for criticism before half-time for a failure to track back.

Sat, 02 Dec, 2023 - 23:33

Jason Mellor

ERIK Ten Hag played down a confrontation with Anthony Martial as Manchester United suffered a sixth defeat of the season in the latest blow to their hopes of a top four finish.

The ineffectual forward pair were hauled off on the hour as the Old Trafford club stretched its record of not having won away at a top-eight Premier League side since October 2021, a run of 13 games.

Ten Hag said: "It's not about Anthony Martial, I don't go into individual performances. I tried to energise the team and tried to get a reaction. We had a tough period and it's normal that your coaching is a little bit more aggressive."

Rashford has looked a shadow of the player who scored 34 times last season, and Ten Hag added: "He's investing a lot and we'll support him. He will return to form. He works hard and he will recover and he will get all our support.

"Give credit to Newcastle, they were better than us - more proactive. We allowed them a goal but then fought back and had two good late chances.

"If you lose you're always unhappy and we will talk with the team about why. We're resilient and we have to get ready for the next game on Wednesday and don't stay too long on this game. The team is resilient and has the character to bounce back.

"I'm not hoping (they will get better) - I am sure. You always want to play the perfect game but we have so many games in a short period and we know we have to pick it up. "

Victory through Anthony Gordon's sixth goal of the season 10 minutes into the second-half came at a cost for Newcastle. Goalkeeper Nick Pope was taken off five minutes from the end in clear discomfort with a suspected dislocated left shoulder after an awkward fall to add to the club's long injury list.

The England international underwent surgery on his left hand in May, and head coach Eddie Howe said: "It's such a strange thing because he'll have made that dive thousands of times before.

"We'll see a specialist but it doesn't look good. It will be a massive blow for us if he's ruled out for any length of time. It looked innocuous but that is usually the way and they are normally the more serious ones.

"You could see he was in distress and it looked like he dislocated his shoulder just diving. He was in a fair amount of pain but at this stage it's too early to say how long he might be out for.

"Considering the week we've had it was one of our best performances of the season and the players deserve enormous credit for that display."