Erik ten Hag reveals what he said at half-time to inspire Man Utd comeback
'We needed to put more and more pressure on.'
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has revealed what he said at half-time to inspire a 3-2 comeback victory over Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
United went 2-0 down after just 26 minutes after John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker put the visitors ahead at Old Trafford with the home side booed off at the break.
But United impressed in the second half with Rasmus Hojlund netting the winner after two goals from Alejandro Garnacho.
It ended a run of four games without a goal for United, in which time they crashed out of the Champions League and lost 3-0 at home to AFC Bournemouth.
Ten Hag was delighted after United’s win over Villa and told Amazon Prime: ‘The atmosphere changed a lot from the first half to the second, but if you look at the first half you are losing because of two set plays, in moments where we were not so focused.
‘I think already in the first half we played quite well, and kept trying and trying.
‘At half-time I said to the team, ‘Keep believing, and keep doing what we did, actually do even more’ – we needed to put more and more pressure on. At 2-1 then when we added pressure you see what happened.
‘I said before the game that we were competitive with Arsenal, competitive with Liverpool so if we play our best we can beat anyone.
‘Believe that, even when you are two-nil down, it doesn’t matter. Keep going, show character, and today they did show we have the personality to do it. I think it was a very good team performance.’
Ten Hag had been under significant pressure before the 3-2 win over Villa, with Tim Sherwood calling for the Dutchman to be sacked.
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