The score line has to be higher — Ten Hag slams team performance

Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, has criticized his players’ finishing despite their 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. The victory saw the Red Devils leapfrog Newcastle in the Premier League table.

Antony and Diogo Dalot scored for United, but ten Hag felt that his players should have scored more goals.

“My only criticism is the score has to be higher, 3-0 or 4-0. We missed a couple of chances. We want to kill the game early, so it is always important, with so many chances, you have to score,” ten Hag told Sky Sports.

Despite managing 22 shots during the match compared to Forest’s six, only eight of United’s shots were on target. This wastefulness in front of goal has been a recurring problem for United this season, with the team often struggling to convert their chances into goals.

Fair play to the Dutch manager though, Manchester United over in recent games have struggled to find goal scoring form or goals to kill off games. This was made evident in the draw against Sevilla in the Europa League, and the Red Devils going into at least 3 consecutive games following the defeat to Liverpool without scoring a goal in premier league games.

Manchester United fans will be hoping that the team can build on this form as they look to close the gap on the top four. With few games left to play, the race for Champions League qualification is heating up, and United will need to be at their best if they want to secure a top-four finish.

Next up for United is an away trip in the Europa League to Spain for the return leg against Sevilla, and ten Hag will be hoping that his players can be more clinical in front of goal as they look to pick up another important three points in their quest for Champions League football.