<p>Erik ten Hag acknowledges that he has no idea as to why Manchester United’s poor defensive play has persisted throughout their miserable season debut.</p>
<p>After losing 4-3 to Bayern Munich in their Champions League debut on Wednesday, Ten Hag’s team has let up 14 goals in their previous five games across all competitions.<img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-198495″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/theindiaprint.com-employees-at-a-delhi-mobile-store-were-assaulted-by-customers-over-the-delay-in-an.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com employees at a delhi mobile store were assaulted by customers over the delay in an” width=”1058″ height=”598″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/theindiaprint.com-employees-at-a-delhi-mobile-store-were-assaulted-by-customers-over-the-delay-in-an.jpg 299w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/theindiaprint.com-employees-at-a-delhi-mobile-store-were-assaulted-by-customers-over-the-delay-in-an-150×85.jpg 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 1058px) 100vw, 1058px” title=”Manchester United's defensive shortcomings perplex Erik Ten Hag 6″></p>
<p>After Brighton defeated United 3-1 at Old Trafford in the Premier League, pressure on United manager Ten Hag increased as a result of Bayern’s failure.</p>
<p>Ten Hag must immediately patch Manchester United’s porous defense with a match against struggling Burnley on Saturday.</p>
<p>Unsettlingly for United supporters, the Dutch manager said he is still attempting to identify the cause of the issue.</p>
<p>We had the most clean sheets in the Premier League last year because of the team, because we defended extremely well as a team, therefore we need to return to that level, Ten Hag told reporters on Friday.</p>
<p>“Of course I am pushing the team and demanding of the team from the beginning of the season, but they are human beings, not machines, so I try to find out why they are not doing it, I try to provide the answers, and I try to urge the players to do the work.</p>
<p>“As a manager, you constantly ask yourself these things when you are in a phase like the one we are now in. I have to persuade them to do the task.</p>
<p>The mindset of United’s team has come under scrutiny after video from the match against Bayern Munich seemed to show players not following back as aggressively as they might.</p>
<p>However, according to Ten Hag, there was no evidence of a lack of motivation. He said: “It’s always concerning when we don’t run, but I don’t think that was the case against Bayern.</p>
<p>“In certain circumstances, sure. Thus, it’s also important to know which circumstance. Is it because they were unwilling or because they didn’t realize it and didn’t make the proper choices?</p>
<p>“We didn’t run a much against Spurs. However, I believe that despite our best efforts in terms of physical outputs versus Bayern, we sometimes ran at the wrong time.</p>
<p>“You can’t claim the spirit isn’t right if we recover as we did in Munich. I believe we have more significant issues than that.</p>
Manchester United’s defensive shortcomings perplex Erik Ten Hag
