Erik ten Hag has his standards and he is not afraid to call out his squad when they are not meeting them.
He slammed a selection of unspecified players for thinking “90 per cent was ok” in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham. Earlier in the season, he chastised his side for “not sticking to the plan” in the heavy losses to Manchester City and Brentford.
And just after the new year, he called on United to be more “ruthless” after conceding a late goal to draw 1-1 with Crystal Palace. Ten Hag once again repeated this demand in the 2-0 home win over Everton last month.
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“We have to be more clinical, more ruthless in the box,” he said. “The game should have been finished by half-time. It wasn’t.” It only re-affirms the obvious need for a clinical centre-forward in the summer.
In games post-Everton, United have mustered 14 or more shots in a game but half of them failed to be on-target. In Sunday’s 1-0 win over Villa, United mustered 14 shots with only one goal to show for it.
As many as 17 were arrowed in during the 2-2 draw with Spurs. If United had been more clinical with their 15 efforts against Brighton in the FA Cup semi-final, the match may not have gone to penalties.
The way the season has panned out now means it is currently no cause for concern but it could be the difference between a title chase next season, and Ten Hag knows it. United have failed to score three or more in a game since the 3-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Fulham.
You have to go back to February 19 to find the most recent occasion the Reds fired in three in a league game - the 3-0 triumph over Leicester. United have heavily relied on Marcus Rashford for goals this season.
Their drop in output coincided with Rashford’s injury against Everton and while he has since returned and scored, the striker is not yet quite at the full-belt pace he attained pre-injury.
Ten Hag challenged others to step up and while this has happened to an extent, the loss to Sevilla and draw with Tottenham show that United still lack that ultimate lethality.
Brighton are up next again, a side who showed their clinical nature in Saturday’s 6-0 demolition of Wolves. They benched three star players in Alexis Mac Allister, Kaoru Mitoma and Moises Caicedo for that game, with Evan Fergsuon still sidelined.
He could be back for United, having missed the FA Cup semi-final. Brighton dealt Ten Hag his first defeat at Old Trafford and that lesson was learned with United unbeaten at home in the league since.
The Dutchman will want his players to glean another lesson from the Seagulls’ latest showing at the weekend. They have lost just once in their last nine league matches and are in ominous form as they knock on the door of Europe.
Liverpool in fifth are seven points behind United, a suitably wide enough gap for comfort regarding a top four spot. The run-in looks appetising too with West Ham, Wolves and Bournemouth all in the midriff of the table with no immediate danger but with slim-to-no chances of a European spot.
But United can make their job easier by being more clinical and putting games to bed early on. If they can do that away at Brighton, they can do it against any of the teams left in the run-in.
Not only would it send a message but it would build confidence and momentum ahead of the final games against Chelsea and Fulham - also mid-table teams - ahead of the season’s crescendo of the FA Cup final against treble-chasing Manchester City.
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