Brentford loss sparked urgent team meeting that helped change Man United’s mentality, says Lisandro Martinez

Lisandro Martinez has detailed the team meeting that Erik ten Hag led following Manchester United’s 4-0 loss to Brentford in August that helped change the mentality in the Old Trafford dressing room.

Despite the fact that Ten Hag could end the six-year trophy drought at the club on Sunday in the Carabao Cup final, the start of the season looked shaky for the Dutch manager.

Two losses, including the embarrassing defeat against The Bees, at the beginning of the season, left United rock bottom of the Premier League table. They had an upcoming game against Liverpool on the cards and the task at United started to look more and more difficult for the manager coming from Ajax.

However, victory against Jurgen Klopp’s men was the kickstart for Ten Hag’s men, who have been one of the most in-form teams in Europe since then.

Lisandro Martinez, who has been key to the turnaround at the Theatre of Dreams, has explained the details of a team meeting that was conducted before that win against Liverpool.

“We changed the mentality,” said Martinez. “It was like ‘okay, we’re in the ground, but now we have to prove, to fight again’. Sometimes it’s good to see the bad things and then you have to change on the pitch.

“We spoke in the dressing room, we said everything, we were very strict, we looked at the badge and said ‘guys, this is not possible, we have to change this’. It was the best game to change, against Liverpool. We showed another spirit, another energy, then we started to know we could do it.”

Everything was laid on the table and it seems like another managerial moment where Ten Hag has proven his worth. This would’ve come around the same time as when he sent his squad on a 13.8-kilometre run, only to join it with him.

Now, as the back end of the season approaches, United are looking a much better and healthier team on the pitch.

Victory against Newcastle at Wembley could help propel this team to the next level. One that is confident of winning silverware.

Whilst those two opening games of the season were not enjoyable, it was something that tested the character of the team, and they’ve shown that they will fight for their manager and club.