Erik ten Hag has revealed what he said to inspire his players in Manchester United's 3-2 comeback Boxing Day win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
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United beat Villa 3-2 at Old TraffordUnai Emery's side had led 2-0 Ten Hag reveals what he said to inspire playersWHAT HAPPENED?
A second-half double from Alejandro Garnacho and a Rasmus Hojlund goal cancelled out first-half strikes from John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker as United claimed an unlikely victory. It looked like the Red Devils were down and out at half-time but they improved significantly in the second half and much of that may have been down to Ten Hag's half-time team talk – which the Dutchman has given an insight into.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT ERIK TEN HAG SAID
He told : "The atmosphere changed a lot from the first half to the second, but if you look at the first half you are losing because of two set plays, in moments where we were not so focused. I think already in the first half we played quite well, and kept trying and trying.
"At half-time I said to the team: 'Keep believing, and keep doing what we did, actually do even more'. We needed to put more and more pressure on. At 1-2 then when we added pressure you see what happened.
"I said before the game that we were competitive with Arsenal, competitive with Liverpool so if we play our best we can beat anyone. Believe that, even when you are two-nil down, it doesn't matter. Keep going, show character, and today they did show we have the personality to do it. I think it was a very good team performance."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
United looked like they would be sliding down the Premier League table but are back into the European qualification places with a scarcely believable comeback win. This was their first game since Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25 percent purchase of the club was announced and while there are a multitude of issues at the Premier League giants, who are sixth in the table, this gets this new era off to a positive start.
(C)Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?
United will hope to build on these three points by claiming another victory at Nottingham Forest on December 30 in the Premier League. Their 2024 calendar begins away to Wigan in round three of the FA Cup on January 8 before hosting Tottenham in the top-flight six days later.
