Erik ten Hag’s gruesome verdict on Manchester United’s “unacceptable” friendly loss

With the FIFA World Cup quickly racing towards its climax, Manchester United were back in action on Wednesday evening as part of their winter training camp in Spain.

Facing off against Cadiz CF in a friendly fixture, the Red Devils ran out as 4-2 losers in a rather disappointing result. Despite goals from Antony Martial and Kobbie Mainoo on either side of half-time bringing the side level after going 2-0 down, two more goals from Cadiz in the second half saw Erik ten Hag’s men suffer a disappointing loss.

After the game, the Dutch manager was brutal in his post-match analysis, citing several reasons for the side’s poor performance in the first half.

“It’s quite clear we were not awake, we were asleep in the first 15 minutes,” Ten Hag detailed to MUTV. “They (Cadiz) were a threat in transition. In the second goal we were not awake, a bad rest defence — especially in the midfield, we got ran off. It’s not possible, unacceptable.

“The first goal as well, a set play, bad organisation and discipline; you concede a goal,” he continued. “After that, we came in the game, but couldn’t make the equaliser before half-time.”

One potential positive to take from the performance was the injection of life that United’s youthful second-half XI gave the game, with Ten Hag recognising the “fight” they added to the match.

“They gave energy. They run and fight, maybe not always in the right organisation,” he said. “They make mistakes. It was a good lesson, they see that small mistakes have big consequences.”

Overall, however, Ten Hag explained that he was not happy with the performance his side gave in the Spanish city.

“We are unhappy with this game. Of course, you always have some positives even when you lose, but today there are more negatives.”

The friendly fixture against Cadiz was the first of a doubleheader of friendlies in the country, with the second game of the tour being a game against Real Betis, kicking off at 17:00 GMT.