Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has insisted what he saw from his players against Atletico Madrid was "not acceptable" during their pre-season friendly with the Spanish giants.
The Red Devils were beaten 1-0 thanks to Joao Felix's late strike for Diego Simeone's side, shortly before United star Fred was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card as Ten Hag's troops ended the contest with 10 men.
It was a game littered with fiery challenges and while it was technically a friendly between the two teams, the tackles on display suggested it was being played at the kind of pace many would associate with competitive action. Given the new Premier League season gets underway in a week's time, Ten Hag harboured concerns over some of the clashes between players.
Reflecting on the game, the Dutchman addressed Atletico Madrid's aggression: "I like competitiveness, but with respect. I don't want to have injuries as well.
"That's why you have to keep respect for each other. I have seen some tackles which are maybe a little bit over the limit." While Ten Hag was clearly frustrated with Atletico's no holds barred approach, he was far from overjoyed with his own side either.
"In the end it's about the result, and the score was not good," he added. "You have to take benefits if you create chances. I think we created many chances, to produce at least one goal — that point, I am not satisfied. I have told the team it is not acceptable."
United had enjoyed a stellar pre-season campaign prior to their meeting with Atletico and hadn't actually tasted defeat under Ten Hag. In the games beforehand, the Red Devils had even registered an emphatic 4-0 win over fierce rivals Liverpool and another win over Premier League opposition in Crystal Palace.
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Taking positives out of the defeat, Ten Hag will know there are plenty of things he can work on from this outing - it just remains to be seen whether enough will be fixed in time before United's opening day contest against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford.
There is another chance for Ten Hag to try some new things before then however, with United in action again on Sunday against Rayo Vallecano - 24 hours after the game against Atletico.
The United manager has explained how it will be an entirely different starting line-up for the second game of the weekend. "The players that played from the start will not come on tomorrow," Ten Hag revealed.
"Tomorrow we will have a different starting eleven. There are players who came on [against Atletico Madrid] who can start tomorrow."
