Erik ten Hag has explained his “aggressive” manner towards Anthony Martial during Manchester United’s loss at Newcastle. The Dutchman was clearly irked by the striker and vented at him from the touchline at St James’ Park.
Martial was given the nod up front instead of summer signing Rasmus Hojlund. But he and United had a night to forget as Newcastle ran out 1-0 winners.
The scoreline didn’t tell the tale as United were by far the second-best on the day. Newcastle didn’t take the lead until 10 minutes into the second half when Anthony Gordon swept home from close range.
But one of the main talking points came in the opening 45. As Newcastle dominated, Ten Hag got involved in a heated discussion with Martial, shouting across the pitch at the forward who was standing in the centre circle at the time.
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Martial was sure to give some back to his manager, with them both gesturing with their arms. Ten Hag admits he was “aggressive” towards the 27-year-old.
However, he claimed it was normal behaviour during a match. Ten Hag said: “It’s not about Anthony Martial, it’s about the team.
“I try to energise the team and try to get a reaction from the team in this moment. As you see, we had a tough period and when you’re coaching you are a little more aggressive, so that’s normal.”
It was Martial’s second league start in a row and just his fourth in the top flight this season. He has entered the final year of his contract at United, although the club do have the option to extend the deal by a further 12 months.
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United host Chelsea on Wednesday and Bournemouth on Saturday before the must-win Champions League match against Bayern Munich next week. Ten Hag is sure that he will see a response from the performance at St James’ Park.
He said: “I will talk with my team about the reasons but we have to do better and, as I said, I am sure they will pick this up and I am sure they are resilient. They have the character to do this.
“We have seen good performances, in this week against Everton and Galatasaray. You always want that you play, every game, a perfect game. We have so many games in a short period and you can have also less good performances and now we have to pick this up.”
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