Erik ten Hag thinks Christian Eriksen will play a key role for Manchester United this season, but claims his attacking players have delivered an ‘unacceptable’ performance against Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
United suffered their first defeat of their preseason campaign this summer when Joao Felix took a 1-0 win for Diego Simeone’s side in Oslo.
Eriksen, meanwhile, came off the bench to make his first appearance for a United shirt and should have been given an assist as his superb delivery was caught by Harry Maguire, who missed with a header from six yards.
Asked about Eriksen’s post-match cameo, Ten Hag emphasized the importance of the midfielder’s midfielder to United’s attack.
“We know what he can do,” Ten Hag told MUTV.
“I think with our leaders he is able to give them the right pass at the right time, so he creates opportunities and then it’s about finishing.”
Ten Hag also admitted he was unhappy with United not finishing their chances against Atletico.
“In the end it’s about the result and the score was not good,” said Ten Hag.
“You have to take advantage when you create chances and I thought he created a lot of chances to score at least one goal, we didn’t do it.
“Of the fewer chances they created, they scored one. I am not satisfied on that point.
“I’ve told the team it’s not acceptable. You have to be sharp on both sides.
“Our possession game and our transition game were really good, we created a lot of threat for them. We had weapons, we created chances, at that point I was really happy.
“Also from set plays, a big chance for Harry Maguire, so we had enough, but it wasn’t enough to win the game and that’s always our goal.”
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