Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has conceded Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Aston Villa was a “setback” for his side.
United have been steadily rebuilding in their first season under the Dutchman, having lost their opening two league games, to move into the top five in the Premier League.
The Red Devils had only lost once in their past 10 league games, the dismal 6-3 derby loss to champions Manchester City, heading into Sunday’s loss to Unai Emery’s side.
The defeat comes on a weekend where fellow top-four hopefuls Tottenham and Chelsea also lost. United are still fifth, three points behind fourth-placed Spurs with a game in hand.
“It is a setback,” Ten Hag told reporters. “This is a process and I know it will not only go up. Setbacks will come and we have to deal with that.”
United were blown away by Villa early in Emery’s first game in charge, with Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne both scoring inside the opening 11 minutes.
The visitors got a fortunate goal back on half-time when Luke Shaw’s shot was cruelly deflected in off Jacob Ramsey, but the Villa man added a third shortly after the break.
“We lost the game at the start of the first half, start of the second half,” the Dutchman said. “That’s not acceptable. You have to be ready for the game, we were not.
“We have to be more sharp. I said it was up to us. It was up to us. We didnt keep the ball. We let them run at the start of the game, we didnt get the right organisation but especially we didnt follow the rules in defending and we lost battles.
“It’s not acceptable. A player has to take responsibility to be ready. It looked like they were fresher and that’s never acceptable.”
Meanwhile, Ten Hag started wantaway superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in the game and handed him the captain’s armband in a bold move, with Harry Maguire benched and Bruno Fernandes out suspended.
“He is doing really (well) the last two games, I hope he keeps that process going,” Ten Hag said about Ronaldo.
“When you are captain and leader you have to set an example and that is what I expect from him he is an important part of the squad, we are happy with him and now he has to taken even more of the leader role.”
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