They may have beaten their biggest rivals but Erik ten Hag did not pull any punches in his post-match interview on Tuesday night – and it's exactly what Manchester United fans wanted to hear.
Goals from Jadon Sancho, Fred, Anthony Martial and Facundo Pellistri secured an emphatic 4-0 win over Liverpool at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
But despite the positive scoreline in their first pre-season game, a collected Ten Hag admitted to seeing "a lot of mistakes" throughout.
In the post-match interview with MUTV, former Ajax manager Ten Hag also pointed out that Premier League runners up Liverpool were not at their strongest and warned his players not to overestimate the result.
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You can see a snippet of Ten Hag's interview below.
He began: "Of course we are satisfied today because I think that was a team with a great spirit and we know we are just starting and things went wrong, clearly.
"We did the press, we made some mistakes in pressing, we conceded some chances, but also we created a lot.
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"I think our team played brave, played proactive. We have to work really hard to cut out the mistakes, but of course we are happy with the first game."
Ten Hag said he was relatively happy with the performance of his players, but admitted it will take "a lot of time" to get his principles across.
"I have seen a lot of mistakes," he said. "You would not say [when you look] at the result but, lets be honest, Liverpool plays in three teams. They were not at their strongest so we have to not overestimate this result.
"We have to [be careful] but still, I have seen some great things. We have potential."
United fans were quick to react to Ten Hag's interview after the game.
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One said: "A non-delusional manager is what we’ve always needed. A decent performance and yet he wants more. Hungry as ever," while another wrote: "I like this mentality. More of this."
A third commented: "Beating Liverpool 4-0 and still saying we’re not good enough. That’s my manager."
Earlier this week, Ten Hag was followed by cameras during United's first pre-season training session in Thailand, and it gave us a glimpse into his incredibly high expectations.
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As you can see in the footage below, the 52-year-old watched his players with a keen eye and pointed out any mistakes or lapses of concentration.
He spotted Marcus Rashford out wide and pointed both fingers to his head, as if he was saying to use his brain.
He also told his midfielders to be 'more compact' before giving youngster Charlie Savage a reassuring slap to the chest.
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Thoughts on Ten Hag's first weeks as United boss? Are you impressed?
Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: MUTVTopics: Erik Ten Hag, Manchester United, Liverpool, Premier League
