Erik ten Hag is adamant Manchester United's humiliating 4-0 defeat to Brentford on Saturday was caused by individual mistakes rather than it being a consequence of flawed tactical decisions.
United were hoping to bounce back from last weekend's 2-1 home loss to Brighton and Hove Albion when they travelled to London, but they left with one of their worst defeats in Premier League history.
Brentford were 4-0 up at half-time, becoming only the third team to reach such a scoreline against United in the Premier League by the interval, while the Red Devils succumbed to a fourth successive league loss for the first time in 43 years.
As such, United finished the day bottom of the Premier League, something that has not occurred since the competition's second matchday ever in August 1992.
Part of United's problem seemed to be their persistence at trying to play out from the back, with Christian Eriksen twice robbed in compromising positions, the second such instance leading to Mathias Jensen making it 2-0 as the United player received a needlessly risky pass from David de Gea.
It was put to Ten Hag in his post-match news conference that United got their tactics wrong against a Brentford side that pressed high with impressive intensity, but the Dutchman refused to accept such an assessment.
"This is a conclusion, I will not admit that," he said. "They can and show already in pre-season this has nothing to do with that and it's about when you make the mistakes you make, every plan and strategy you can put in the bin.
"I think we all have seen the game and I think Brentford was more hungry, and we concede goals in individual mistakes.
"You can have a good plan but we had to put the plan into the bin. I think it had nothing to do with tactical and that the first two goals, it's about dealing with the ball, that's one, and decisions.
"I think they follow my instructions, but they make bad decisions and that's football, it's a game of mistakes and you get punished."
But while Ten Hag is keen for United to try and play out from the back, he was frustrated by the players' inability to adapt to a slightly different approach when aggressive nature of Brentford's pressing became apparent.
Quizzed on Eriksen twice being caught on the ball in deep positions, Ten Hag said: "Yes, but he didn't have to receive the ball there, because we give options and the players have to choose but we said play long, invite them and play long.
"I don't want to play from the back when it's not possible. It was naive how we played today; you have to play more direct. We attracted them, the space was high up the pitch, you have to do that option but that is what we didn't do.
"We will learn, we will have to learn, it's not good enough, clear, it's not the level and the standard how we want to act.
"It's not possible the opponent is more hungry than you are. I saw in the second-half a comeback but you have to start well and it's not good.
"When the results are like this, I can imagine that feeling, it's also no good. That we show that, clear, so we have to change that. We need more hunger on the pitch and show that as an individual and as a team."
Up next for Ten Hag and United is the visit of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool to Old Trafford a week on Monday.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
Amorim wants Man Utd players to be inspired by club's history
Ruben Amorim wants his Manchester United players to be inspired by the club's history as he bids to bring a winning mentality back to Old Trafford.
Amorim, taking over at the Premier League club following the departure of Erik ten Hag, was speaking in his first interview with the club after a tour of their home venue.
The Portuguese tactician had visited Old Trafford earlier in the week and met a group of supporters, as well as the women's team's vice-captain, England star Ella Toone.
"When you come [to Old Trafford], it's so different. You see the trophies, you see the tragedy that we have as a club. The history," said Amorim.
The 39-year-old added the manner in which the club defied the odds to succeed under Matt Busby after the Munich air disaster in 1958 should be a particular source of inspiration.
"This kind of strength, I think it's important to put in our team. When the players come here, they should take the stadium tour all the time. I think this is very important to do," Amorim said.
"It's normal if you go a lot of years without winning, you start losing that feeling. So I think we need to put all the players doing the same thing, to regain that feeling.
"We haven't won the Premier League for a long time. But if you ask, United is the biggest club in England.
"So this is part of history, it is not now. So we have to address that, to show that and to try to win again."
Asked what his footballing philosophy is, the former midfielder said it all comes down to being a team.
"The team is the most important thing for me. And if you work as a team, then the talent individually is going to shine," he said.
"But if I have to explain the importance of everything, it is the character, the way we fight, the way we play, and we must have an identity.
New Man Utd boss Amorim says he must win to be afforded time
New Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has said he will need to win matches in order to earn time and create his own identity at the club.
The Portuguese tactician, who left Sporting CP to become Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, was speaking during his first interview with the Premier League club.
"We know that we need time, but we have to win time. To win time is to win games. But the most important thing for me is identity. So since day one we will start with our identity," the 39-year-old said.
"Of course we are going to prepare the games, but we will focus a lot in our game model. How to play, how to press, these small things, small details.
"You cannot go 100% on every detail because it will be confusing for the players. So if I have to say one thing, my main goal, my first goal, is identity."
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 and will face a trip to Ipswich Town in the league on 24 November on his United debut.
But the former Portugal international added that having a young squad will not be an excuse if he fails to get the desired results in the short term.
"I don't want to say that we need time because we are a young team. They are prepared. They are prepared to cope with the demands of playing for United. They should be because they are here," Amorim said.
"We know it will take time, but we have to start since day one without fear, without thinking that they are not used to playing like this. They will start on the first day with our idea, no matter what. That's the goal."
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