Patrice Evra has suggested some Manchester United players have already lost faith in Erik ten Hag following their 6-3 derby defeat against Manchester City last week.
Ten Hag confessed he was "surprised" by the "lack of belief" shown by his players in the defeat. It was an eye-opening performance for United, who had won each of their previous four Premier League outings – including eye-catching wins over Liverpool and Arsenal.
Yet the Dutchman said in the aftermath of the loss at the Etihad that he was concerned over the lack of “fight” in his side for the match – and Evra has now suggested that many players will not have taken that message well.
Ten Hag explained after the match: "The players know they can do better. If you don't fight, then you have a problem against a team like Manchester City. This is definitely different [to the 4-0 defeat at Brentford]. We didn't run there. We wanted to today but didn't follow the principles.
"It was a lack of belief. I will show the team that we could have been front-footed. We win the ball then give it away for the first goal. We take wrong decisions in the transition afterwards. We don't follow the rules so we are undisciplined. It cannot happen. It is unacceptable."
Evra has now spoken about the impact of these words while previewing this weekend’s Premier League action, outlining his concerns for United’s trip to Everton – which he believes they will lose – and the long-term implications of the comments.
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The former United full-back explained: “The question is, have United recovered from the derby? It’s always difficult to play against the Toffees, this is always a difficult game. That’s not the place I want United to go to right now. Unfortunately, I think Everton will win.”
Evra then added, criticising the manner of the derby defeat: “United upset me so much against City and they brought back some bad memories. Is the team strong enough to recover that fast? I don’t know. I think the players and manager will have lost a bit of trust following the derby, some players get sensitive when a manager calls them out after a game, players like to blame people.”
United got back to winning ways on Thursday night with a 3-2 victory at Omonia Nicosia in their Europa League group stage clash but their recovery from the derby day loss is only likely to be measured after this weekend’s trip to Goodison Park.
