Erik ten Hag was not impressed with his Manchester United players as they were beaten 1-0 by Rosenborg in the first pre-season friendly of their summer.
Noah Holm scored the only goal of the game, netting in stoppage time at the end of the contest to secure a 1-0 win for the home side in Trondheim.
A lot of Manchester United’s first team regulars were missing due to Euro 2024, the Copa America and various fitness issues, but there were some recognisable names involved.
Casemiro, Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jonny Evans started the match, alongside a number of youngsters.
Rosenborg are in the middle of the Norwegian season, so match fit and sharp, but Ten Hag was left very frustrated with what he saw from his side.
‘The result is not secondary,’ Ten Hag told MUTV. ‘Of course, we play pre-season but at Man United the standard is you win games and definitely don’t lose games.
‘So if you can’t win, don’t lose the game, like we did in the last second of the game. But of course, the performance is more important and the performance was below standards.’
20-year-old Czech goalkeeper Radek Vitek was the standout performer for the Red Devils, making a string of good saves, but Ten Hag felt it was the poor display of his teammates that allowed that to happen.
‘Let’s say he (Vitek) got the opportunity from the team to make some very good saves because the performance from the team is, by far, not good enough,’ said the Dutchman.
He added: ‘We can talk [about] everything that is bad, but I’m not that guy. I have seen and this is not the standard for top football. Top football, you have to achieve much higher standards, starts with any individual, make sure you’re fit.
‘I know we can’t be match-fit in this moment, I know you need these games. The opponent is in the league, they have a much higher fitness level but we are Man United and players from Man United, a team from Man United, should perform better.’
Manchester United go to Rangers in their next pre-season outing on Saturday, with Ten Hag likely to have more players available to him.
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