Ten Hag refuses to blame De Gea for West Ham defeat

Manchester United's Erik Ten Hag and David De Gea (Sportimage)

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Manchester United vs Wolves

Ten Hag refuses to blame De Gea for West Ham defeat

Ayoola Kelechi 07:53 - 08.05.2023

Manchester United's Erik Ten Hag has said the West Ham defeat was not David De Gea's fault despite costly error

Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag has refused to lay the blame for the defeat against West Ham squarely on the shoulders of David De Gea, despite the goalkeeper’s error allowing Said Benrahma to score the winner for the Hammers on Sunday. 

De Gea commits blunder as West Ham defeats Manchester United

De Gea committed his fourth blunder leading directly to a goal in all competitions in the 2022/23 campaign, a record among Premier League goalkeepers, which on this occasion cost the Red Devils the tie and put their qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League at risk. 

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Despite acknowledging the severity of the situation and the effects that De Gea’s error had on the team, Ten Hag refused to blame the goalkeeper for the defeat, noting that the team lost together and all the players must take responsibility for the loss to West Ham and look to improve as the season comes to an end. 

Ten Hag says team must take responsibility and bounce back

Speaking after the West Ham game, Ten Hag noted De Gea’s achievements in goal for Manchester United in the 2022/23 campaign and also noted that the team had contributed to the Spanish goalkeeper’s positive and negative moments this season.

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The Dutch coach said, "Mistakes are part of football, and in this team, you have to deal with it and bounce back because it is a team sport. Over the season he [De Gea] is the one with the most clean sheets and also we did it as a team. It can happen, it’s football but everybody has to take responsibility.”

Ten Hag reiterated that the whole team had to bounce back after the defeat and also said he could not blame any of his players for the loss as he believes they put in their best. 

“It’s part of football, you have a lot in your head but football is a game of mistakes. Ten Hag said, before continuing, “There is a team, you have to bounce back and deal with the effect. You can also say in front of goal we were not clinical enough. We hit twice the post, we had good chances, we didn’t score, so that’s the end result.

“I can't blame my team, they put all their effort in.”

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Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from the West Ham defeat when they play against Wolves at Old Trafford in their next game, looking to put their UCL qualification back on track. 

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