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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

Erik ten Hag admits ‘unbalanced’ Manchester United must fix key issue: ‘It’s obvious’

Erik ten Hag has insisted Manchester United must do better despite the issues impacting their defence.

Galatasaray walked away from Old Trafford 3-2 winners on Tuesday night after the Red Devils squandered a second-half lead in their Champions League game.

Makeshift left-back Sofyan Amrabat was caught by Baris Yilmaz for the second equaliser before allowing Maurio Icardi to run through onside as he scored the late winner.

Ten Hag’s decision to move the Moroccan into defence amid injuries to Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Aaron Wan-Bissaka initially received praise but the United boss has admitted that his team are struggling on that flank.

“It’s obvious that we are a little bit unbalanced on the left side,” he told TNT Sports Brazil after the defeat.

“But we need to deal with that as a squad. We should have done better. That’s the situation we are in.

“But let’s not forget we were twice up and we scored some great goals. It was a good five-minute period for the team, but we have to do better in the connection and in defending.”

Ten Hag was booed off by some United fans after what was a second defeat in as many home games, following the 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace on the weekend.

They have now lost both of their opening Champions League group matches and sit tenth in the Premier League, leading to questions over the manager’s future.

“In the end, the fans are disappointed as we are,” he said. “We are also very disappointed.

“But that also has to be fuel and that is the good thing about this team. Every time they find the energy in every game, at the start of every game.

“There was a team with a lot of energy and with a good motivation going into the game.”

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