Inspiration Behind Man Utd's Win Vs Liverpool Revealed?
24 August, 2022
With Manchester United winning their first game of the season against bitter rivals Liverpool on Monday night, what manager Erik ten Hag did to help motivate his players to victory has now seemingly been revealed.
The Red Devils got off the mark in the Premier League earlier this week when they managed to defeat perennial title contenders Liverpool at the Theatre of Dreams.
Both teams went into the game winless, with United's record making for worse reading having lost both their previous matches, while the six-time European champions had drawn their first 2022/23 EPL games. Ten Hag's men were fresh off a 4-0 drubbing to Brentford, a result the Dutch tactician was reportedly infuriated by, so much so that following that tie, the 52-year-old decided to cancel the team's day off on the Sunday that followed and dragged the squad to their training facility.
According to The Sun, the former Ajax Amsterdam boss demanded that the players run 13.8km, the distance that Brentford had outrun United by at the Gtech Community Stadium the day before.
What has since emerged is that, while the players were initially unhappy about the punishment, they were shocked to find Ten Hag joining them on the run.
The squad are said to have gained massive respect for the newly appointed manager as a result, helping them come together before their monumental clash with the Reds.
It also illustrated to some that there was not going to be any form of special treatment during his tenure as United boss. That equality within the squad was seemingly further shown when both club captain Harry Maguire and the team's top goalscorer last season Cristiano Ronaldo were dropped from the starting XI for the match against the Merseysiders.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za