Erik ten Hag has urged the entire team to ‘take responsibility’ after David de Gea’s error condemned Manchester United to a 1-0 defeat at West Ham.
De Gea made a terrible individual error as the Spaniard allowed Said Benrahma’s weak effort to squirm through his grasp, a mistake which handed West Ham a much-needed win in their battle to secure Premier League survival.
Defeat was a second consecutive loss in the Premier League for Ten Hag’s side, who are now just a point ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool in the race for Champions League football.
Ten Hag expressed his disappointment at full-time and suggested fatigue was behind his side’s poor second half.
“First half, I think we played quite well and we created a lot of opportunities, but on the first occasion they scored a goal,” Ten Hag told BT Sports.
”Of course, disappointment with the result, same as Thursday [against Brighton]. We lost for ourselves and now we have one week, the first time since Christmas, we need energy because both second halves were below standards.”
Ten Hag refused to single out De Gea for criticism and said the entire team must take responsibility for defeat, despite the goalkeeper’s glaring error.
”Mistakes are part of football and in this team you have to deal with it and bounce back because it is a team sport.
”Over the season he is the one with the most clean sheets and also we did it as a team. It can happen, it’s football but everybody has to take responsibility.”
