Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag accused of having a ‘wind up’ for excuses after loss

Erik ten Hag took aim at his players after their loss to Brighton (Image: Getty) Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys has taken aim at Erik ten Hag for having a “wind up” after pointing the finger at Manchester United ‘s players for the dismal 3-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday. The Red Devils have made a slow start to the new season, including fortunate wins over Wolves and Nottingham Forest. And that poor form continued on their first game back after the international break as Brighton recorded an impressive win at Old Trafford. Ten Hag opted for a different formation to his usual 4-2-3-1 system with Bruno Fernandes playing out of his usual position through the middle. The United boss felt his players stuck to the unique game plan well straight after kick-off, but was not impressed that they failed to continue doing so after Brighton’s opener. But Ten Hag has come in for heavy criticism of his own with United now picking up just six points from their opening five league games. Keys feels the Dutchman has “failed” at Old Trafford and couldn’t believe the United manager was blaming his players. “I had to read this twice to be certain it wasn’t a wind up,” Keys wrote on X , formerly known as Twitter. Manchester United have lost three of their opening five games (Image: Getty) “Is this guy for real? I say again – he’s taken Utd nowhere nor will he while he always blames his players. It’s very simple. He’s failed. He hasn’t got a clue what’s he’s trying to achieve.” Things don’t get any easier for United now as they travel to Germany for their Champions League opener against Bayern Munich this week. But Ten Hag is hopeful that his side will be able to turn things around quickly heading into the match on Wednesday.