Former midfielder Owen Hargreaves believes Manchester United's players are already drained of confidence, just two games into the start of the Erik ten Hag era and new Premier League season.
Hargreaves made the admission after watching United fall to an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at the hands of Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday evening. Ten Hag's side found themselves four goals down by half-time following a nightmare opening 35 minutes in the capital.
Two David de Gea errors gifted Brentford a two-goal lead before they doubled their tally through goals from Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo. Defeat left United bottom of the Premier League table without a point to their name.
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While Brentford deserved credit for the way they chased and went after United, forcing errors aplenty, the Reds, not for the first time in recent months, crumbled under the slightest feeling of pressure. Hargreaves, who played for the club between 2007 and 2011, has since blasted United's players, accusing them of lacking any sort of fight and desire to try and get back into the game.
"They made some mistakes and the goals were poor," Hargreaves told Premier League Productions. "There was no fight to get back into the game, no tackling, no aggression.
"Football at this level is about competition, that's how you make it. Brentford won every battle. You've got to win the battles.
"They weren't ready against Brighton and they weren't ready again. Erik ten Hag is a super coach, he did an amazing job at Ajax. But these two games have not gone to plan. I don’t know how you can turn this around quickly.
"The confidence is just gone. It's a privilege and honour to wear that football shirt. We've all been there as players, had terrible games.
"But you get through it by fighting and competing. Forget about the tactics, it's about winning your individual battles. I was hopeful [we would see a response after Brighton]. I'm tired of being critical and negative. But what can you say? There wasn't any positives."
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