Erik ten Hag has defended Manchester United’s performance against Liverpool and suggested an open, end-to-end game is what should be expected in matches against them.
Ten Hag’s side once again came under pressure — just as they did against Brentford last weekend and Chelsea on Thursday — and faced a significant amount of shots on goal with Liverpool having 15 in the first half to United’s zero.
They should have been more than the one Luis Diaz goal down at the break but a turnaround after the interval and strikes from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo gave them the lead heading into the closing stages.
However, Mohamed Salah’s late penalty earned the visitors a share of the points at Old Trafford.
Asked whether he would consider changing his side’s style of play, Ten Hag said: “No, it’s clear when you play Chelsea, when you play Liverpool it will be a transition game. They are top, both teams. Both teams want to play and will leave space for others.
“I thought that there were moments where we could’ve done better reactions in defensive transitions, but in general we did very good. We conceded only goals from two set plays. In our transitions, we could’ve done even better — for example (Alejandro) Garnacho and Bruno. Already after a couple of minutes we should’ve took the lead.”
