Manchester United Coach, Erik Ten Hag is not new to disciplining his players whenever there’s time or a need to do so. He has been doing it while in Ajax and mounted the same authority when he arrived at Carrington (United’s training base).
Manchester United were hammered 7-0 by Liverpool in Sunday’s derby at Anfield. Brace goals from Gakpo, Nunez, and Salah plus a late strike from Firmino consumed United to their joint-heaviest defeat in history (after Blackburn Rovers in 1926, Aston Villa in 1930, and Wolves in 1931).
The defeat came after United has been in fine form recently, sitting third in the table, while Liverpool has had a patchy season going into the encounter.
After going 1-0 down in the first half through a goal from Cody Gakpo, United shipped out additional 6-whooping goals within 45 minutes into the second half.
How did United Coach Punish his Players?
After Sunday’s 7-0 mauling, Erik Ten Hag, during yesterday’s training session, instructed his players to sit down and listen to celebrations from Liverpool players, as well as the shouting from Anfield fans.
Senior players such as Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Casemiro, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez, Fred, etc. were not left off the hook, as all the players, especially those that played the match felt the wrath of the manager.
In other words, the angry Dutch coach specifically told them that they were lucky to have followed the team bus, but would have traveled back with the fans in their bus.
He further told them that they will be having more sessions with the team’s sports psychologist, Rainier Koers, who will help them deal with the humiliating defeat.
The coach equally warned them that any repeat of such humiliation will be dealt with more severely, and they will start by first training with the U-21 side.
This is not the first time Ten Hag will be punishing his players this season.
At the early stage of the campaign back in August, United were battered 4-0 by Brentford and the coach instructed them to sit and re-watch the game and also run kilometers in training the following morning.
His reason was that Brentford’s players ran more than his players on the pitch and that was what caused the heavy defeat.
What does this mean for the senior players?
Erik Ten Hag is not the type of coach that favors players, be they big or small, whether you’re Ronaldo or Messi.
When he first arrived, he put certain guidelines to make sure his players adhere to his standards.
He sensed that something is lacking as regards the team’s togetherness and spirit in the dressing room, so he made sure that certain rules and regulations are been laid down for the players as regards off-field behavior.
At first, he banned the use of phones during training sessions, instructed his players to maintain a certain dress code, as well as to eat at a certain strict time at the Carrington training base.
The dress code rule was implemented after Ten Hag was surprised to see most of his players dress inappropriately during their stay in the hotel while on a pre-season tour in Bangkok.
Players that have directly suffered his punishment are Cristiano Ronaldo (when he was dropped from the team sheet against Chelsea for storming off the stadium in the win over Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (dropped to the bench against Wolves for coming late in training), and also Alejandro Garnacho (dropped early in the season for always turning up late in training during their pre-season).
What’s next for United?
Manchester United host Real Betis at Old Trafford in the first leg of the Europa League Round of 16 tie.
Having secured the Carabao Cup with victory over Newcastle United, United is still on the run for at least a treble.
They face Fulham in the FA Cup quarterfinals, with Man City the only team in the big six remaining. United then face Southampton next in Sunday’s Premier League encounter.