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Sky Sports apologise as Ten Hag swears while Klopp makes excuses again

Sky Sports took to apologise as Erik Ten Hag swears in his post-match interview while Jurgen Klopp makes excuses again.

The Man Utd boss had reason to get a little bit overexcited after watching his side surprise with a 2-1 win over Liverpool, the Dutchman dropping the f-bomb talking after the match.

Goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford sealed the victory for the Red Devils over their arch rivals at Old Trafford – bouncing back from their humiliation at the hands of Brentford in fine style.

Player ratings

Man Utd: De Gea (6) Dalot (6), Varane (7), Martinez (9), Malacia (8), McTominay (8), Eriksen (7), Fernandes (7) Sancho (8), Elanga (6), Rashford (9).

Subs: Martial (8), Fred (6), Ronaldo, Van de Beek (n/a).

Liverpool: Alisson (6), Alexander-Arnold (4), Gomez (4), Van Dijk (4), Robertson (5) Henderson (4), Milner (4), Elliott (5), Salah (7), Firmino (5), Diaz (6).

Subs: Fabinho (6), Carvalho (6) Tsimikas (n/a).

Man of the match: Marcus Rashford.

The atmosphere was described to be incredible, special, especially considering there was a protest planned to empty it, with trouble flaring up outside the ground before kick off.

The win is Ten Hag’s first competitive triumph as Man Utd boss, who hailed the attitude and fighting spirit of his players, but was slightly carried away with Sky Sports presenter David Jones forced to apologise for the manager’s colourful choice of words.

“We can talk about tactical but it is all about attitude,” Ten Hag said.

“Now you see we bring attitude on the pitch and there was communication, there was a fighting spirit and there was a team and you can see what they can achieve because they can fucking play good football.

“I wanted a different approach, a different attitude and that is what they bring on the pitch, that is what makes me satisfied.

“It is just the start, we have to keep humble, we can play a lot better if we keep more composure. We have good players – now be a good team and then we will act.

“It is not always about what we said, I said we had to act and not talk a lot, make sure you are a team, battle and also be brave.”

Gary Neville wasn’t offended in the slightest, adding he enjoyed hearing Ten Hag’s fruity language and was overjoyed at what he saw on the pitch, far more impressed with the improvement the team showed compared to their last outing, which saw them suffer a 4-0 defeat at Brentford.

“I’m absolutely stunned to be honest with you. I didn’t think that that was possible what I saw in terms of response,” Neville said.

“I thought the players had cemented what they do week in, week out over many months at the end of last season, the start of this season.

“What’s happened this week I don’t know but they’ve responded. Maybe the slight changes in personnel, making brave changes. The captain, the star player both left on the bench but maybe the manager’s gained a little bit of gravitas.

“I think Bruno Fernandes has responded, Lisandro Martinez at the back has played well alongside Raphael Varane.

“I don’t know what it is but I can’t believe what I’ve just witnessed. Liverpool weren’t at their best, but they weren’t at their best against Crystal Palace and Fulham but it was just the effort difference I saw from Manchester United.

“They’ve out-run Liverpool, they’ve out-sprinted Liverpool and we’ve questioned that a number of times if they’re capable of doing it and they’ve shown tonight that they are.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said his side would have beaten Manchester United if they played “a little bit better” – but admitted he was concerned about his team’s injury problems.

Klopp told Sky Sports: “They were really aggressive in the beginning, it was absolutely clear what would happen. Reality shows if we are really ready, and in the beginning they were more aggressive than us, they hit the post and it was a hectic game.

“Then they scored the goal, and we took over, and played the game we wanted to play, more or less.

“We were unlucky with situations, especially around set-pieces. I don’t know how one ball didn’t go in, in a game like this against an opponent like United it would be very helpful if we could score in that moment and go in 1-1 at half-time.

“Conceding the second one doesn’t help, and then we score ours and then it’s a hectic game with a lot of interruptions – and not the result we wanted.

“Maybe they were [sharper], that’s not right of course but when we calmed down we were there. We had an extreme number of shots for an away game at United, we should use more of these moments if we do that.

“Even with our situation, but playing a little bit better, if we were a little more convinced about what we do we should’ve won this game. I know it sounds ridiculous, but that’s how I see it.”

On his emotions after the game: “Emotions? We lost. That says, I think, everything about my expected emotions. That’s it. Very disappointed about the result.”

 

On whether he is concerned by Liverpool’s ‘attitude’: “I don’t think that is a question you have to ask, to be honest, because if you saw both games [tonight and Fulham] the difference couldn’t be bigger. No, it is a game where everything was clear, everything was on the table. It was not 100 per cent clear what United would do, but that’s how they started the game. Were they more aggressive than us in the beginning? Probably, yes. It was exactly the game United wanted to play and you can say that is our fault if you want. In the beginning there, it was wild, up and down and these kind of things and they had their chance when they hit the post. Then they scored the goal and then we took over, more or less. Until the final pass or final decision, we played like we should have played. Against so many legs in the defence, it is not easy to create now every 20 seconds a new chance, but we had a lot of moments in the box.

“We were unlucky after a set-piece and I still have no idea how the ball did not go in, but that’s how it is. We all know how football games look when you have such an aggressive start, such a bright start if you want, if we would have scored there but didn’t. We showed the boys a couple of situations from the first half where we did exactly what we had to do, where we played in their formation, where we found Bobby and how Harvey was open and how Hendo and Millie were open in these moments, how we then could get in the box, show the two wingers where we wanted them, more often coming in behind the centre-halves and things like this. We were a bit too long, too wide.

“One-nil down but rather positive half-time, getting out, again a wild start if you want, but we are in the game now, really in the game. Then we conceded a second and that’s not helpful. That obviously created a special atmosphere here. When we scored our goal, which I think we absolutely deserved in this game, it was slightly late. We had more moments where De Gea, top saves, or they blocked our shots and these kind of things and these are the facts. It was 2-1 because time ran out and we had not the clear-cut chances in the last two or three minutes anymore because the watch just ran down without real football because of different situations.”

On whether there are ‘issues that need to be fixed’ within the team: “I realise now, I didn’t even see it, but I think it [the question] is about an argument on the pitch or whatever, shouting at each other and these kind of things. We don’t have any kind of issues; I have not any kind of issues in the team like this. That nobody is happy after you lose a game is completely normal, but this is not an explanation, not an excuse or whatever. It’s all fine there, in this department.”

On whether it’s easy to ‘ignore the table’ at this point in the season: “Not that we ignore it… it’s not the nicest thing to look at, that’s clear, but it’s our situation. Look, we can talk about all the things but in the end I saw tonight a game. So, during the week it is not easy because we have 15 senior outfield players, I think, in training. That’s obviously not cool. But for the game tonight, I liked the line-up, saw good performances as well tonight. Obviously we were not good enough to win the game but I think we all know that if we score here in any situations an equaliser, it would not have been the biggest surprise in the world, so it’s a deserved draw after a start where United looked sharper than us – but that was not too long and in the situation I think a little bit to expect. In a home game, imagine they wouldn’t have fought today from the first second? That would’ve been an interesting situation. But they did. So, our situation is how it is. It’s not perfect but good enough to play better tonight, and I think our situation is good enough that we could’ve won the game tonight if we would have played slightly better.”

 

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher told Monday Night Football his old side deserved nothing from the game, and pointed to a wider issue which has now seen the Reds concede first in each of their last seven Premier League games.

“Liverpool didn’t deserve to win this game,” he said. “If they’d got the 2-2 back towards the end it would’ve been a great point, but it wouldn’t have felt like justice within the stadium.

“Sometimes we look at stats and look at them and use them a lot, if you looked at them tonight without watching the game you’d think Liverpool dominated Manchester United. It didn’t feel like that watching it.

“When a team goes 1-0 or 2-0 up they’ll drop off and say come and break us down, especially against Liverpool because you know at this moment they’re having problems breaking teams down, and you can always get at them on the counter-attack.

“That is a big problem for Liverpool at the moment, too often teams are getting through. Even when Liverpool were in possession tonight, I still felt Man Utd were more dangerous.

“Liverpool didn’t deserve anything from the game.”

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