Erik ten Hag responds to Man Utd fans after Old Trafford boos in Galatasaray defeat

Erik ten Hag has said he can understand why some Manchester United fans chose to boo his side after Tuesday’s 3-2 Champions League defeat to Galatasaray.

Despite leading twice at Old Trafford, the hosts came away with nothing from the European encounter, on a night where Casemiro was sent off and Andre Onana again made a costly error. It leaves United with an uphill task to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, with Galatasaray on four points in Group A, Bayern Munich on six, while the Red Devils have yet to get off the mark.

The defeat on Tuesday was the third in the last four at home, to continue the Red Devils’ terrible start to the season. United have now lost six of their 10 games in 2023/24, and the boos at Old Trafford indicate that fans are losing patience with the team.

“Yes I can understand [the decision to boo],” Ten Hag said after the Galatasaray defeat. “They can expect responsible [actions] from this team, for the performance and the result. Together with my squad we don’t get the results and they [the fans] are disappointed, I can understand.

“We have to do better but as I said, I have seen a team with great spirit and also a team that was backed by a crowd from the start to the end. Of course, in the end the fans are disappointed as we are also very disappointed.

“That is fuel and every time this team, they find the energy. At the start of every game there was a team with a lot of energy, with good motivation.”

Ten Hag also said he would not use excuses after another United collapse, adding his players must improve. “When I give an explanation then you will see excuses and there are no excuses,” explained the Dutchman. “Ok, maybe we have a bit of an unbalanced left side, but we can’t make the errors we are making, we have to do better. It’s simple, we have to win our games.”

Next up for United is a home game against Brentford on Saturday, before October’s international break. Depending on results in this weekend’s matches, the Red Devils could head into the second hiatus of the season as low as 15th place.