Man United fans disagree with Erik ten Hag statement as manager defends criticised player

Erik ten Hag has come to the defence of David de Gea after Newcastle forward Jacob Murphy admitted his team targeted Manchester United’s goal kicks on Sunday.

The 2-0 loss was a disappointing result for The Reds, who now sit in fifth place in the Premier League, but it was more importantly another poor performance from Ten Hag’s side.

Despite the strides taken so far this season, which includes winning a trophy, United still crumble against high-pressing teams.

Newcastle’s first goal came from winning the ball after a Man United goal kick. Murphy later went on to tell FIVE that it was an area which Newcastle knew they can take advantage of after David de Gea’s hesitation early in the game.

The short goal-kick routine from United has been criticised since then – with many stating that the side do not have the correct players to do this against these teams. De Gea, in particular, has been picked out as he continues to struggle to adapt into a ball-playing goalkeeper.

Despite the criticism about the goal kicks, Ten Hag has defended the tactic and his goalkeeper by suggesting that they were not the problem in the loss.

“We work all day about [goal kicks],” he told reporters. “I think we played very well in that part at Newcastle, the first stage of the game, the second phase of the game, we were really poor in the final third of the game but we get the balls with the wingers, we get the balls with our [number] tens, but from that moment on we were very poor on Sunday.

“But in the first stage of the game, I think we were very good. I think we played many times under the pressure of Newcastle [out from the back] and we get the ball with our tens.”

This is not the first time that the United boss has backed his No.1 recently, with a potential new contract on the table for the Spaniard – a decision that has caused controversy amongst the fanbase.