Ten Hag reveals key Man Utd change which led to victory over Liverpool; talks Maguire, Ronaldo futures

Erik ten Hag reacted to the 2-1 Manchester United win over Liverpool by hailing his team’s change in attitude, while also speaking about the futures of Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ten Hag raised eyebrows by leaving skipper Maguire and last season’s top goalscorer Ronaldo out of the starting eleven. But the Dutchman got his selection just right as Raphael Varane looked solid in defence and Rashford got on the scoresheet.

Manchester United started brightly, catching their opponents by surprise. And they hit the post in the 10th minute when Bruno Fernandes sent Anthony Elanga through, but the winger couldn’t quite score.

Jadon Sancho did what Elanga couldn’t six minutes later. Elanga played his team-mate in and Sancho showed great composure to send both James Milner and Alisson the wrong way before calmly slotting into the bottom corner.

Liverpool improved as the half went on but still went into the break 1-0 down. And United doubled their lead in the second half.

Anthony Martial played Marcus Rashford in and the forward did well to score past Alisson.

Mo Salah pulled one back for Liverpool in the 81st minute, but United held on to pick up their first three points of the Ten Hag era.

In a post-match interview with Sky Sports (via BBC Sport), Ten Hag revealed the change of ‘attitude’ is what helped United overcome Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Ten Hag lauds Man Utd ‘attitude’

“We can talk about tactical but it is all about attitude. There was communication and a fighting spirit,” he said.

“I wanted a different approach and a different attitude and that is what they brought on the pitch. It is only a start. We can play with much more composure and much more danger. Be a team, and have a good spirit and that is what we saw today.

“It is not always about what I said. I said we have to act and not to talk a lot and make sure you are a team and battle and be brave and give each other options.

“It makes me happy that Rashford and Sancho got the goals. Fernandes took the responsibility and the captaincy encouraged him. He showed leadership with Varane. They made a huge difference. It is not just them, we need more leaders. When you want to win you need leaders and the spirit we showed today.

“I am happy with the performance but we have to bring it every game. Don’t just bring it against Liverpool. Every Premier League game is difficult, we need t bring it to every game. It starts, once again, with the spirit.”

When asked about Maguire and Ronaldo being left out, Ten Hag added: “I have a squad and we have to use the squad. We play 50-60 games, from game-to-game we will see what team we will pick. I don’t have to mention Maguire and Ronaldo, they are amazing players, and they will play a role in the future and the short future as well.

“We have the right players, I am convinced of that. The window is not closed and you need numbers and also quality.”

Jadon Sancho admits Brentford defeat ‘hurt’

During a post-match interview with Sky Sports, goalscorer Sancho said: “It means a lot. Our first two games didn’t go so well and [we] had to turn it around today.

“Last week hurt a lot and we knew we had to bounce back and tonight we showed the fans what we can do.

“I didn’t realise how much time I had [for the goal], but once I dropped the defender I needed the composure to finish.

“It means a lot to all of us, you can see how the fans are reacting. We got the three points but onto the next one.

“We just have to produce like today in every single game. Happy we got the three points and we move on.”

Meanwhile, Ten Hag and John Murtough have reacted to the signing of Casemiro.