Erik ten Hag says Manchester United failed to deal with ‘chaotic’ periods against Chelsea and admits his team made ‘bad decisions’ in their 4-3 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
United conceded twice deep into stoppage time as Chelsea turned defeat into victory in dramatic fashion, with Cole Palmer completing a hat-trick with two late, late goals on an unforgettable evening in west London.
Ten Hag’s team had looked set to secure an impressive comeback win after overturning a 2-0 deficit to lead 3-2 heading into stoppage time, but collapsed in the final seconds of the game as Palmer struck twice inside 82 seconds – his winner arriving in the 111th minute – to spark wild Chelsea celebrations.
For United it was another late collapse, having conceded a 99th minute equaliser at Brentford last weekend after opening the scoring moments earlier. The Red Devils have now conceded more shots on goal (225) than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
“It’s a team performance and of course you can point to one of the players. But it’s not about that. It’s about team performance,” Ten Hag reflected.
“As I said, as a team, in such moments, when it gets chaotic, you have to deal with such circumstances as a team and we didn’t. We made the wrong decisions and we didn’t help each other in possession as well. [We should have been] keeping the ball, going from one side to the other side, or at least pass and move. In and out of possession, we made bad decisions.”
The defeat leaves United facing a huge challenge to secure Champions League football, with Ten Hag’s side 11 points adrift of the top four, with just a game in hand on Aston Villa.
“It’s definitely a setback, but now we have to deal with this, to get up again and we will do. We are resilient. You have seen today how resilient we are, how we returned in the game, the quality of our football, how we can play outstanding football in moments, some really high [moments]. But football is about results and you have to bring it over the time.
“I don’t know where they got the eight minutes. I don’t know where they came from. But in the last minutes of the game, we as a team have to manage the game better.”
