Erik ten Hag says “for me it was a surprise” that Man Utd players folded when they played City.
The Manchester derby was a day of humiliation for United and manager Erik ten Hag
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag expressed his disappointment at the Red Devils’ "lack of belief" in the Manchester Derby on Sunday.
United, who had won four of their previous Premier League matches, were thrashed 6-3 by rivals Manchester City at the Etihad, thanks to hat-tricks from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden.
Anthony Martial and Antony scored for United, papering over the cracks and their underwhelming display, however, it is clear that not only is Manchester Blue, but the English top fight is too.
"When you don't believe on the pitch, you can't win games," Ten Hag told BBC Sport.
"It's quite simple, it's a lack of belief. That is unacceptable. We get undisciplined at following rules, and you get hammered, that's happened.
"For me it was a surprise. We were not on the front foot, we were not brave on the ball, and there were spaces to play, but we were not brave enough.
"In this moment, I can't think about positives. We let our fans down, we let ourselves down, and we're hugely disappointed.
"It is a process. It is one game. Maybe against other teams the problems would not come, but against Manchester City they will," added Ten Hag.
"I want to change the head and the attitude from the team. There was a reaction in the second half. We were more brave and scored three goals. Only from mistakes you learn."
Eriksen: 'We can only blame ourselves.'
Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen told Sky Sports: "It came very heavy. Everyone feels it was a very bad day at the office. We started on the wrong foot. They had chances straight from kick-off. We can only blame ourselves.
"We missed a bit of courage to play out from the back and we let them be at their strength. The main focus from this game will be on ourselves.
"There are a lot of things we need to change and a lot of things we need to do better. Today was far from acceptable from what we should be doing."
Former United defender Gary Neville said it was a "reminder of how far behind" they are compared to the Cityzens, who are now one point behind table toppers Arsenal.
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