Related items

• Erik ten Hag seeking solution to Manchester United’s defensive dilemma

  Erik ten Hag admits he is at a loss to explain Manchester United’s poor defensive performances.

  The Red Devils have conceded 14 goals in their last five games and 10 in the last three, with three goals against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday not enough even to earn them a point.

  United boss Ten Hag said: “We have shown that we can do it because last year we had the most clean sheets in the Premier League because of the team, because we defended very good as a team, so we have to get back to that standard.

  “Of course I am pushing the team and demanding from the team, and from the start of the season, but they are human beings, not robots, so, why they are not doing it, I try to find out and I try to give the solutions and try to motivate the players to do the job.

  “When you are in a period like we are in always as a manager you are asking yourself these questions. My job is to get them to do the job.”

  On United’s tendency to concede goals soon after a restart, Ten Hag added: “(We’re) not concerned but we are aware of it. Of course you can’t close your eyes for things like this so we coach the players, we coach the team in that fact.”

  Question marks have been raised about the attitude of United’s squad, with clips from the Bayern game apparently showing players not chasing back as hard as they might.

  Ten Hag does not believe a lack of willingness was to blame, though, saying: “It’s always a concern when we didn’t run but I think against Bayern it was not the case.

  “In certain situations yes so it’s also to recognise in which situation is it about they didn’t recognise it and didn’t make the right decisions or is it about willingness?

  “Against Spurs, we didn’t run too much. But I think against Bayern we did our best from physical outputs but we didn’t always run in the right moment.

  “If we bounced back like we did in Munich, you can’t say the spirit isn’t right. I think we have other problems than that.”

• Ange Postecoglou points out the differences between himself and Mikel Arteta

  Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou is full of admiration for Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, but fails to see many similarities between the pair.

  Postecoglou’s youthful Spurs side face the biggest test of his early reign on Sunday when they make the short trip to the Emirates for the first north London derby of the season.

  Second-placed Tottenham travel across the capital in high spirits but face an Arsenal team that are into a fifth season under Arteta, who also took over a club in the doldrums and has overseen a cultural change from top to bottom.

  While Postecoglou is at the start of the same type of rebuilding job at Spurs, he poked fun at suggestions he is alike his 41-year-old opposite number.

  He said: “I think Mikel has been outstanding, really strong right from the start by having a real vision for the football club and the club’s backed him, but I don’t think that’s unique.

  “I think Liverpool did the same with Jurgen (Klopp). Most clubs that end up having a successful period do it on the back of having a really clear idea of what they’re trying to create.

  “The only problem is that a lot of clubs jump at shadows at the first sign of things not progressing at the rate they were hoping to. Credit to Arsenal and credit to Mikel that they backed each other and they’re reaping the rewards of it but that’s not a blueprint for us to follow.

  “We’ve got our own blueprint. You don’t have to follow anyone else’s timescale, you don’t have to follow anyone else’s processes. What you’ve got to do is have a clear idea about what you want and provided along the way you see progress, stick to it.

  “In terms of similarities, I’m 58, he’s whatever (41). I’ve had 26 years, he’s five years into it. He’s managed in one country, I’ve managed in a few. I’m not sure how he’s got a great head of hair!

  “He’s a lot fitter than I am. I don’t know, there’s not a lot of threads I can sort of join between us. I wouldn’t say we’re opposites.

  “We’re different. Even in the way his team plays. Yes he does have a very attacking philosophy but it’s different from mine and that’s the beauty of the game. That’s what you love about it.

  “It’s why you can’t copy. If you’re an artist and you see a Picasso, yeah you can copy it, but it’s not going to be a Picasso is it? It’s the same with football.

  “You can see that somebody does something really well, but don’t bring your own personality into it. I have great admiration for the way he’s gone about things and how he’s stuck to his beliefs. It’s a credit to him.”

  Postecoglou did not claim to have any type of personal relationship with Arteta, but he did reveal a time when he got to view the Spaniard up close.

  The former Celtic boss watched Manchester City training not long after he was appointed manager at Yokohama, who are part-owned by the City Football Group.

  “I spent a week at City when I first got the Yokohama job because they were part of the group and were generous enough to invite me in,” he revealed.

  “I didn’t speak to anyone but I observed training and you could see then how passionate Mikel was about the game and that he was itching to get going and become a manager himself.

  “He’s had a different journey but he’s made the impact.

  “As I keep saying, there’s no real defined way to get here.”

• Virgil van Dijk excited about Darwin Nunez potential after recent goal rush

  Virgil van Dijk believes striker Darwin Nunez is starting to realise the potential which persuaded Liverpool to spend a possible club-record transfer fee on him.

  The Uruguay international endured a testing start to life at Anfield and although he scored 16 goals, the feeling remained he had underperformed.

  He has already played a significant part this season, scoring two late goals as a substitute to beat Newcastle, and with Mohamed Salah on the bench he took responsibility for equalising through a penalty in their eventual 3-1 Europa League victory over LASK in Austria.

  Nunez has three goals and two assists this season but his all-round influence has been felt more than just from that contribution.

  The Uruguayan, who had missed a couple of earlier chances but was denied a certain goal by a brilliant point-blank save by goalkeeper Tobias Lawal in the first half, also played a role in the second goal with his hold-up play on the halfway line.

  Liverpool’s captain believes the 24-year-old is developing into the striker they hoped they were getting when they paid Benfica an initial £64million, which could rise to £85m, last summer.

  “Everyone has a role to play whether you start or not. Everyone has now seen the potential and the quality he has.

  “Against LASK Darwin was important with the goal. Long may it continue, and with the other boys as well.

  “Up front, the competition is quite good. They all have to push each other and it’s good to see.”

  One of those “other boys” – quite literally – was Ben Doak who became Liverpool’s fourth-youngest European player with his first start at the age of 17 years and 314 days.

  The young Scot was given a run in Salah’s right-wing position and showed flashes of his talent despite being starved of opportunities in a poor first-half performance by the team.

  “It was a big night for him,” added Van Dijk. “It was never going to be easy, it was a difficult pitch, but he could have set up at least two goals in the first half where he went past his man like no one was there but unfortunately nobody was on the end of it.

  “I am pleased for him and I’m also very excited for him and the future that’s coming.

  “You’ve seen in the last couple of weeks, if you watch closely it’s a fantastic group to be part of.

  “We have a lot of quality, a lot of younger players, players who are getting new roles and they are enjoying that as well.

  “But at the end of the day football is about results. Everybody wants to play their best football each and every game, but sometimes you have to find a way, like we did at Wolves (coming back from conceding first again to win 3-1).

  “On Thursday it was after we conceded a set-piece, we showed that we stayed calm and found a way as well.”