- Manchester United suffered their second consecutive defeat of the season against Liverpool
- Erik ten Hag says it could be a while before Manuel Ugarte can make an impact
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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag bizarrely claimed “I’m not Harry Potter” after his side’s crushing defeat to Liverpool.
The Red Devils suffered their second consecutive defeat on Sunday, with Luis Diaz scoring twice before Mohamed Salah’s second-half opener at Old Trafford.
The latest defeat came after Erik ten Hag’s side lost to Brighton last week, with the Dutchman already under scrutiny.
And in his post-match press conference he exclaimed that he is “not Harry Potter” and insisted that new £51m signing Manuel Ugarte will not be a quick fix to United’s problems.
He said: ‘So this is another one. We have to train the team members and that will take time. So it’s not like I’m Harry Potter and that’s what needs to be acknowledged.
Erik ten Hag bizarrely claimed ‘I’m not Harry Potter’ after Manchester United’s defeat to Liverpool
The Dutchman insisted that new signing Manuel Ugarte will not be a quick fix to United’s problems
“If you look at Manuel Ugarte, he hasn’t played so far this season. He hasn’t played a single minute of a match, so he needs to improve his fitness and then we have to get him into the team and then I’m sure he will contribute to our level.
“He’ll be an important player, but that will take a couple of weeks, maybe even months, and I think that counts for more plays, for example Joshua Zirkzee, who made big steps in the last three or four weeks. I’m very pleased with his performance today.”
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Ten Hag admitted that Liverpool were the better team and that his team made multiple mistakes.
He said: ‘We made mistakes, and they were very clinical in their finishing, and they did very well.
‘I don’t think so. Looking back at all the chances we had, I don’t think that’s what happened. I think we make mistakes.
The Red Devils suffered their second consecutive defeat of the season against Liverpool
‘All three goals were mistakes from us, individual mistakes, maybe the last one can be debated, where is our double six? But in all the others, I think Liverpool were brilliant in their possession, the loss of the ball and the way it ended was very good, but it wasn’t. And I saw the XG, it wasn’t that high.
“It’s clear that they deserve it, Liverpool, and we have to be humble. We have to accept it and improve our game.”
