Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been told he is "not fooling anyone" after he tried to put a positive spìn on Saturday's draw against Burnley
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been told he is "not fooling anyone" with his positive take on the Red Devils' 1-1 draw at home to struggling Burnley on Saturday.
United took the lead late in the game through Antony, but Ten Hag's side were pegged back after conceding a late penalty, which was scored by Zeki Amdouni after a foul by Andre Onana.
It was yet another frustrating afternoon for United and despite their lowly position in the table, Burnley had 17 shots and 53% of the possession at Old Trafford.
Martin Keown working as a television pundit during Aston Villa's Europa League clash against Ajax in March 2024. (Image credit: Getty Images)
After the game, Ten Hag insisted United are moving in the right direction and praised his team for their "entertaining" football.
"We are one of the most dynamic and entertaining teams in the league at this moment," the Dutchman told BBC Sport.
"We are creating loads of chances by playing good football. Yes, we concede also. We have to learn from it because it was unnecessary to lose the control."
But Keown was critical of those remarks as he told the BBC: "You could have added that interview to the last 10 or 15 games. He’s just saying the same thing. It feels like propaganda doesn’t it. I don’t know what he feels he’s achieving.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"We’re not sitting here wanting to crucify Manchester United. We want them to recover, we want them to play good football. It was actually a very good game but only because Manchester United were very open. And Burnley are sitting second bottom in the table and they managed 17 shots. I think that says everything.
"They’re not convincing performances and he’s not fooling anybody with those comments afterwards. What else is he to say but to hold his hands up and say, 'perhaps it’s up to somebody else to take over…'"
Bastian Schweinsteiger exclusive: “With a bit more trust, Louis van Gaal would have changed more at Manchester United – the club lost a lot of years because of that”
Ben Hayward is the Weekend Editor of FourFourTwo. A European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.
