‘I wouldn’t say’ - Man Utd v Liverpool moment leads to Erik ten Hag and Jurgen Klopp disagreeing

Erik ten Hag has disagreed with a point made by Jurgen Klopp following Manchester United’s win over Liverpool.

The Red Devils got off to a fine start in pre-season, beating Premier League rivals Liverpool 4-0 on Tuesday.

Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, Fred and Facundo Pellistri were all on target as United showed the first signs of Ten Hag’s system.

It was by no means a perfect performance, and Liverpool did have their chances, bringing many of their big guns on at the break.

But there were plenty of pleasing aspects for United, including the more energetic, high-pressing style of play.

But according to Liverpool boss Klopp, United played a man-marking system in Thailand,

“I saw a lot of good performances in moments, but no consistency, sometimes we were in a rush,” said Klopp. “The way United defended in a man-marking system, especially in midfield, we gave the ball away and they finished the moments off, that was obvious.

“The way United is playing with this man-marking idea you need more flexibility. When Harvey [Elliott] came in the middle we were more dangerous.”

Ten Hag did not agree with that assessment, though, claiming his side may have used man-marking at times, but it was not the main system they employed.

“I wouldn’t say that we play man marking – at a certain moment we play man marking,” responded the Dutchman via manutd.com.

“We want to press, we want to press all day and play proactive football. Sometimes we can do that high but if not possible, we have to read it as a team and drop lower. But we want to press and that has to be the intention all day.”

It will be interesting to see how United’s system of play evolves over pre-season and heading into the campaign, and indeed to see how quickly Ten Hag can get his men playing the way he wants them to.