‘Can’t happen’ - Erik ten Hag criticises Man Utd’s ‘naive’ approach in 4-3 win v Wolves

Erik ten Hag criticised the naivety of his side after Manchester United nearly twice squandered two-goal leads against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday.

United dominated the opening 45 minutes and should have scored more than the two goals they managed via Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, while Scott McTominay grabbed a third after Pablo Sarabia had scored for Wolves.

But some weak-willed defending saw the hosts get back on level terms with goals from Max Kilman and Pedro Neto that seemed to have snatched a point for Wolves. There was one last twist, however, as Kobbie Mainoo curled the ball beyond Jose Sa in injury-time to cap off a crazy night of action in the West Midlands.

There were plenty of positives and negatives for Ten Hag to reflect on after the game, but the Dutchman said United over-committed players in the offensive areas when they were in the lead.

“To be honest I had mixed feelings, one side very pleased, of course it's a massive win,” opined Ten Hag. “I think for a neutral fan, spectator of this game, it was great to see, but a manager when you see you dominate a game for an hour, you should go 3 or 4-0 by the hour because we had the chances and we conceded nothing.

“But then the way we concede the goals we should manage that better on the pitch, this can't happen. Then you see the spirit of the team and the resilience and especially in Kobbie Mainoo, that is great to see. We have the right character, the spirit in the dressing room is very good when you can show this.”

Asked about his frustrations at United's vulnerabilities, Ten Hag highlighted several recurring themes from the season that his side have been unable to address.

“It’s more things: switching off, reading the game, it’s about when you are up, keep the ball. We want go too much for another goal instead of keeping the ball and letting the opponent run. Now we are going for goal, too much risk and we encourage opponents.

“We have to run more and then also especially in this moment where the team are not in 100 percent fitness you get split as a team and it is quite naive. When you are open and leading a game, then you should all run forward. Stay calm, keep the ball and make sure your defending organisation is always good.

“We have to hammer out these mistakes, they can’t happen. We had some more stages in the games in the season as well. What is asked is leadership and it can’t be that this happening that you concede such goals.”