Manchester United

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day after today's loss: "To concede a goal after two or three minutes like that, it did something to our belief. Totally unneccessary. To concede a goal like this, the [opposing] centre-half stepping in and passing the whole team over the right side and then the winger tapping in at the far post. Same mistake as in the midweek against Twente, it should be stopped in the first moment.

"From that moment on we were stressed on the ball. We could not find the triangles or the switches, we had some good moments, but from that moment we could not get a foothold. And we can do better than that. Even after such a mistake from us we should stay calm.

"We had chances and our moments to get back in the game, with Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho when we still had 11 players and then after the red card too we had moments.

"We had our chances before half-time and in the second half with 10 men we had chances as well. It definitely had an impact on the game. I don't think it was a red card."

"First we have to deal with this and show resilience. This is not good enough. We have to accept this and get better. Focus on the next game and do things better than we did today."

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day after his sending off: "I just wanted to come and talk [do the interview] and be myself because my team-mates deserve that for what they have done in the game playing with one man less. Particularly as I was the man sent off, the one that let them down.

"The team showed a lot of character, a lot of resilience, a lot of fight. They tried. It wasn't easy."

On the red card: "Never a red card - that is my view. I agree that it is a foul. The referee tried to tell me that as he saw it was a clear contact with the studs, no. I didn't touch him with the studs or even the foot, it was my ankle. It is a clear foul.

"If he wants to give me a yellow because they are going to go on a counter then I agree. But more than that, no. It is not the case."

On the game being tough before the red card: "Yes I think we struggled a bit. We tried to force it a little bit, to rush it and go too quick. When they have the high line we made mistakes on the ball and then we got punished and it didn't go the way we wanted from there.

"Then the red card makes it worse. I have to appreciate all the effort my team-mates have done to try and return to the game but it wasn't possible. They showed great effort and character and I was happy for that."

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United’s seven points are their joint-fewest after six games of a Premier League season (W2 D1 L3 – same record in both 2013-14 and 2020-21).

Only in 2007-08 (4) have they scored fewer goals in their first six Premier League games than they have this term (5).

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on United’s performance, external

What did you make of Tottenham’s display?, external

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Follow reaction and read the match report

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

For week six, he takes on Maximo Park singer Paul Smith, whose latest album, Stream Of Life, is out on Friday.

Man Utd host Tottenham at 16:30 on Sunday.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

My first thought was that I fancy Manchester United to win this but, the more I think about it, the less likely that seems.

United made heavy weather of their Europa League draw with FC Twente on Wednesday, with a performance that was very uninspiring.

Mind you, we need to see more from Spurs in the final third too, so I am going to stick with my instincts and go for a United win. Let me explain why.

In my opinion, United cannot beat Spurs by going toe-to-toe with them, but there is an argument that Tottenham's playing style will suit Erik ten Hag, because it is in these sort of games where Ten Hag's counter-attack football works best.

I am not exactly confident they will beat Spurs though.

What worries me most about tipping United is what happens in the centre of the park. Are United going to rely on Christian Eriksen again, against his former club. A great player, but does he have the legs?

Paul's prediction: You could easily make an argument for both teams but Spurs are away so it will be more difficult for them, because Old Trafford does make a difference.

Both teams will think they can win it, so it would be crazy for me to go for another 2-2 draw... and yet I feel like someone will be 2-1 up going into the last 10 minutes or something and then the other team will get that final big chance to score. So I am going to go for that draw! 2-2.

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham’s Son Heung-min has created more chances from open play than any other player in the Premier League this season (13).

He has also had a hand in five goals in his past seven league appearances against Manchester United, scoring four and assisting one.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes has been a subdued force around opposition penalty areas so far this season.

The Portuguese playmaker is yet to score and managed a single assist - at Southampton - in five Premier League appearances.

It is one of the reasons why United have struggled to turn opportunities into goals.

Manager Erik ten Hag is convinced Fernandes will soon be back to his best.

"He has proved so many years in the Premier League that he can create many chances," said Ten Hag.

"I am convinced this season he will do the same, he will respond and find his form. He is already creating chances but 100% he will make final passes and score goals. It’s just a matter of time."

Image source, Getty Images

Former Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel says he would waste time "on purpose" when he came up against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.

Time-wasting and the 'dark arts' of football have been hotly debated this week following the feisty 2-2 draw between title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.

Discussing the topic on the Planet Premier League podcast, Friedel recalled how he used these tactics against one manager in particular.

"A long time ago, Sir Alex Ferguson used to get so annoyed," said Friedel, who faced the Red Devils 43 times in his career.

"I was playing for Liverpool at the time when Michael Owen did that two-footed challenge against [Peter] Schmeichel and got sent off and we were drawing in the game.

"I wasted so much time and we ended up drawing 1-1, but that was back in 1998. So, every other time I returned to Old Trafford, Sir Alex had in his head, no matter what team I was playing for, what the game was, what the score was, I was wasting time.

"So then just on purpose to wind the fans up, I did just [waste time] when I didn't even need to."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

There has been a lot of conversation this week about "dark arts" in football following the draw between Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.

Realistically, everyone who has watched football for longer than one game has seen things they would perceive as "dark arts"; whether it is a player always going down winning free-kicks to take the sting out of the game, kicking the ball into row Z when there was no multi-ball system or time-wasting on goal-kicks.

These are things we see all the time but our perception of it is dependent on the context of a game. You always see some version of it somewhere, and you hope your team would be doing the same thing if in the same situation - because why should you do something that would benefit the opposition you are against?

It is the same as going down a bit more easily to win penalties - some people will say "this guy is a cheat", but then on the other side of their mouth, if it is something that could benefit them, they say "he has tried too hard to stay up, he needed to go down there".

You can have rulings, Ifab can get involved to change this and that, but there will always be a way to push the rules to their limits.

What we saw with Arsenal in that game, where David Raya sat down to get some treatment while the teams gathered, we have seen those moments before. It is not just new to Arsenal - other teams do it.

It is always based on certain moments. You do get more frustrated if it happens against you, but when you need to do it, you encourage people to do it. That is one of the beauties of football - the way you see things is always going to be down to perception, context and just whether you think it is benefiting you or not.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Phil Cartwright

Manager Erik ten Hag is on borrowed time at Manchester United, who are actively looking at candidates to replace him. (Teamtalk), external

Former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would "say yes every day of the week" if asked to return to Old Trafford as manager. (ESPN), external

Want more news? Read Friday's full gossip column

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

When a manager holds his pre-match press conference 18 hours after his last one finished, three days before his team is due to play again, it is sometimes difficult to know whether to look back on what has gone, or forward to what is to come.

I went for the former.

Erik ten Hag has a key game looming against Tottenham on Sunday. After disappointing draws against Crystal Palace - when Manchester United dominated but could not score - and last night against FC Twente - when they dominated but didn't score enough - it was pertinent to ask what the problem was.

I have been told Ten Hag prefers blunt questions because he finds them easier to deal with.

He also likes blunt answers.

"Not scoring goals enough, that is the problem," he said.

"It’s the key area. We have to score more goals as a team."

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at home against Tottenham (16:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Ten Hag is not expecting any injured players to return for the visit of Spurs and anticipates having the same squad to choose from as he did against FC Twente in the Europa League on Thursday.

• When asked about Christian Eriksen's comments that Twente "wanted it more" in the 1-1 draw, he said: "I think every team has this in a season when you play 60 games. There will be games where you are not happy with the performance. The team who can manage this the most will be most successful. We are ambitious and always demand we are hungrier."

• Ten Hag sees missing chances as being key during recent poor results: "Not scoring goals, not scoring goals enough. That is the problem, the key area to score more goals as a team, we have players across the team who have the ability to score, that is clear, you see all the opportunities we are creating. We are not scoring enough."

• On how to rectify this, Ten Hag said: "You always work into a season to build in structures in defending, structures in possession, you start in the build-up. Across almost all the games we have more possession than the opponent and then it is about what you are doing. We bring the ball into the final third, even the box, a lot but now we have to take more advantage of it."

• Ten Hag believes his side are still a work in progress: "I think you have to assess the situation, still we are working, we are in progress. We have to sign players but we made a choice to sign very young players like last year [Rasmus] Hojlund, like this year [Joshua] Zirkzee, Leny Yoro. Players we believe in them for this moment and also for the future and we have to build with them."

• Asked if fans have to be patient, he said: "You have also to be fair, we won two trophies in the last two seasons and we are ambitious. We want to win another one and be as high as possible and go in every game for winning the game, it doesn't matter who the opponent is."

• Asked if he believes Zirkzee can become a prolific goalscorer for United, Ten Hag said: "Yes, I do. He is young, we see his capabilities. He is a very good link-up player, he's creative, he's creating chances. But, to be fair, also he has absolutely his moments towards the goal of the opposition. In that area he can definitely improve but we knew that beforehand. He has some very good attributes and also some attributes he has to improve and there he needs our support how to improve."

• On what he expects from Spurs: "I think it will be a very intensive game. It is always against Tottenham and it is our style as well so I think it is going to be a very dynamic, attractive game."

Tottenham's visit to Old Trafford on Sunday at least presents opposition who have endured a similarly underwhelming start to the season, while next Thursday's trip to Porto pits Manchester United against a side who surprisingly lost their Europa League opener to Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt.

After that is a very difficult trip to Aston Villa when United must look to avoid entering a second international break in a row with mutterings around Ten Hag and his management.

On the plus side, United's defence, which looked so shaky last season, has improved. Their goals-per-game conceded rate is below one, which is better than in either of their two previous seasons under Ten Hag, and that is despite conceding three in that home defeat by Liverpool on 1 September.

Ten Hag continues to state his team are improving and any issues are short-term concerns. But while he doesn't tend to talk about it, last season's eighth place has not been forgotten.

He still has time on his side but time, as with any manager, can soon start to drift away if results and consistency remain elusive.

"We are very ambitious and when you have ambition, you have to perform," Ten Hag said after Wednesday's draw with FC Twente. "Especially today, in the second half, we were too complacent. We didn't bring it over the line and as a team, you have to do this."

Read Simon's full Man Utd analysis here