Erik ten Hag fired up his Manchester United players to beat arch-rivals Liverpool by using external criticism to motivate them.
United were written off by pundits after losing their first two Premier League games under the Dutchman, including a 4-0 humiliation at Brentford. But they stunned Jurgen Klopp's side 2-1 at Old Trafford on Monday with a performance that suggested Ten Hag can turn their fortunes around and lead them back to success.
It has emerged the United coach used criticism of his players and damning statistics from their opening two defeats to get them in the right frame of mind to beat Liverpool. A United source revealed Ten Hag printed off withering quotes from pundits and stuck them up at the Red Devils' training ground complex and in the dressing room.
