Ten Hag rallies behind dismal Dalot by cherry-picking four United players to blame for Irons loss

Manchester United fans are largely expecting to see communication from club chiefs in the coming days regarding the future of Erik ten Hag.

Should he last until Thursday evening and sustain defeat to Leicester City in the Carabao Cup, INEOS will surely have no choice but to part ways.

Yesterday’s defeat at the London Stadium has left the Red Devils 14th-placed in the table, sandwiched between the Foxes (15th) and West Ham United (13th). 

Of course, the manner of the loss – a dubious penalty kick given deep into injury time – has left Ten Hag and his men feeling hard done by, which they’re well within their rights to. However, you have to question why a side who are off the back of spending another £200 million+ in the summer can’t comfortably overturn a floundering, out-of-form Irons outfit. 

Diogo Dalot has faced widespread criticism during the clash for his remarkable open-goal miss in the first half and has since only taken further stick, given that United left London with zero points. His chance was perhaps harder than it was to blaze over than it was to slot home, yet the scoreline stayed tied until Crysencio Summerville’s opener in the 74th minute.

Ten Hag: Fans can’t heap all blame on Dalot

Post-match, Ten Hag rallied behind the fullback, instead cherry-picking a quartet of players who were also at fault for not converting their chances across the 90-minute affair. 

“We created so many chances and played so much good football, especially in the first half,” the manager told the press, as cited by The Mirror.

“Six or seven 100 per cent chances we should have scored. But when we don’t score, we have to stay calm. All over, I don’t have so many criticisms about my team – other than not scoring.

“It’s not fair to pick one player (Dalot) out. I can also say [Alejandro] Garnacho twice, [Rasmus] Hojlund one time, [Marcus] Rashford, [and] Bruno [Fernandes]. So many were missing chances.”