Erik ten Hag discusses his team meeting with the Barcelona team during the half

By | Nandini Sharma 24 Feb, 2023

Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, has said that during halftime of their 2-1 comeback victory over Barcelona in the Europa League, he urged his players to have confidence in themselves. The first half saw Robert Lewandowski give the Spanish powerhouses the lead, but the second half saw Fred and Antony each net a goal to advance United to the competition’s round of 16.

At halftime, the former Ajax manager made a change by substituting Brazilian winger Antony for Wout Weghorst. The club’s ability to pull off a comeback victory and win 4-3 on aggregate in the play-off round match was a result of his adjustment in tactics and team talk.

Erik ten Hag discusses his team meeting

During a conference ten Hag stated “I emphasized the belief, It was too flat first half. We had our spare man, Casemiro we didn’t use enough. Aaron Wan-Bissaka had a lot of space on the right side, we didn’t use enough. I think in the pressing we could be more brave. So that is what we emphasised. The second was to make the sub with Antony who brought more speed in the play and who brings belief on the pitch”