Manchester United faces a crucial test against top-four rivals Newcastle United, and manager Erik ten Hag has emphasized the need to eliminate individual errors after a 3-3 draw with Galatasaray.
In that game, goalkeeper Andre Onana made two costly errors to deny the Red Devils the victory.
“We have to do some things better.” Ten Hag told reporters on Friday before adding
“Eliminate individual errors, defensive transition, but we can sort this out and I would be more concerned if we didn’t play well.
“I really respect (Newcastle). It’s a difficult team to play but it’s a good challenge and I like to play against them. We have to rise to the occasion and be at our best against them because the way they play is very organised.”
Highlighting 18-year-old midfielder Kaino Mainoo’s impressive debut in the 3-0 win against Everton, Ten Hag praised his scanning ability and decision-making. However, he hinted at the possibility of resting Mainoo against Newcastle to manage the team’s workload during a busy period.
“His scanning, it looks like he always has time because he is scanning, he is running free, he is scanning to see the options and make the right decisions.
“He can delay, can speed up, he makes the right decisions.”
“We have to manage three games in six days to get the best results from all the games.
“We have more than 11 players, we have good options there. Sofyan Amrabat showed he was playing a good game. We have to manage the load of the players and it’s about freshness as well.”
Manchester United are the in-form team in the Premier League with five wins in six games, and will hope to continue with that impressive heading into the busy period.
