Manchester United and Erik ten Hag celebrate a draw with Liverpool.
After being knocked out of Europe in midweek, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag credited his team’s “almost perfect” defending for a 0-0 draw at Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.
On a night when many fans and pundits expected United to suffer even more, they instead ended Liverpool’s sparkling 11-game winning streak at Anfield in all competitions and prevented their rivals from reclaiming top spot in the table.
“The way we defended it was almost perfect,” Ten Hag said. “Whenever we made a mistake, there was always a teammate to help us fix it.”
The draw will provide some relief to the beleaguered Dutch manager after rumors of unrest in the dressing room raised concerns about his job security in recent weeks.
‘Ten Hag has repeatedly stated that his players support him, and he reiterated that sentiment on Sunday when asked if the fight they displayed at Anfield proved that.
Following United’s 3-0 league loss at home to Bournemouth last week, and after being thrashed 7-0 at Anfield last season, some Liverpool fans wore “7-0” Christmas sweaters to Sunday’s game. As a result, it’s not surprising that many United fans celebrated the draw as a victory.
“Today, there was no doubt that the clouds were circling, and no Manchester United fan, including myself, thought United would come out of here alive,” former United defender Gary Neville said on Sky Sports.
“Well done to them for putting up a fight.” Getting a point here and a clean sheet is an unexpected outcome.”
“I was surprised it was a tie. “I didn’t think Manchester United could keep a clean sheet,” he added. “I didn’t think they had a defensive performance like that in them.”
Former United player Roy Keane said Ten Hag’s team would be happy with a draw, which would put them in seventh place.
Liverpool were by far the superior team, but they faltered in the final third,” Keane said on Sky Sports. “It’s a start (for United), but the problems are still there, lack of power, lack of goals…”
Ten Hag praised defenders Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans, as well as goalkeeper Andre Onana, for their efforts in the face of Liverpool’s 34 shots to United’s six.
“(Varane) performed admirably in his partnership with Jonny Evans, both of whom led the team from the back.” “I believe Andre Onana played a significant role or was involved in it,” he said. “But I can mention all the players because it was really a very disciplined team.”
Ten Hag added that they must now demonstrate that spirit on a daily basis.
“You always have to fight for the badge,” the Dutchman said. “We play in extremely high highs and sometimes extremely low lows.” If you want to accomplish something in a season, you can’t go below certain thresholds, so we need consistency.