Repetition in interviews can often irk fans of clubs who have just suffered heavy losses. Manchester United fans felt this often last season.
And they would be forgiven for feeling listless once more after hearing Erik ten Hag again roll out the word “unacceptable” and lament his side’s poor start following Sunday’s 6-3 reality check against Manchester City, harking back to memories of the excuses at Brentford earlier in the season.
But a recurrent tune isn’t always a monotonous sound. The weekend’s defeat is different to the 4-0 drubbing to Brentford in many ways. And, just as United’s mini and belated second-half revival was mildly encouraging, so were some of the post-match comments from key figures.
