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Erik ten Hag reacts to David de Gea horror show in Europa League quarter-final defeat to Sevilla.
Following his disastrous performance for Manchester United in their Europa League quarterfinal loss to Sevilla on Thursday, Erik ten Hag has backed David de Gea.
The goalie for Spain’s national team had a disastrous continental outing at home, as his individual mistakes contributed to a humiliating 3-0 loss for the Red Devils, which eliminated them from Europe 5-2 overall.
Youssef En-Nesyri was able to capitalize on some appalling defending and get the game underway thanks to De Gea’s hospital pass to Harry Maguire inside the first eight minutes. Later on, the United goalkeeper gave the ball to the same player as he was left stranded outside of his penalty area with an open net behind him.
Ten Hag acknowledges that De Gea’s performance has raised concerns, but he has this to say about the goalie who kept more clean sheets for United than any other keeper in team history and who is presently in the lead for the Premier League Golden Glove in 2022–23: “He’s the one with the most clean sheets in the Premier League, so that shows he’s a very capable goalkeeper.”
Ten Hag was eager to avoid pointing fingers at individuals after seeing another bid for silverware come to a close against Sevilla, with the Dutch coach saying of collective failings: “We have to learn. We have to start games better, more desire, passion, composure on the ball. And when we have a setback we have to deal with it and get back on the ball. We have to be better. It is not about the playing skills. It is about character. They had more willingness to win and that can’t be, I think it is unacceptable. We have to pick the players up. But we also have to face that we let ourselves down, we have let the fans down. If you want to win trophies, if you want to be successful, you need character.”
When United returns to action on Sunday, it will still be in the elimination rounds as Ten Hag gets his team ready for an FA Cup semifinal matchup against Brighton at Wembley.