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Former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves believes the Red Devils' confidence is at an all-time low after their Premier League defeat against Brentford on Saturday.
Erik ten Hag's men suffered a 4-0 hammering at the Brentford Community Stadium as the 20-time league champions lost their first two games for the first time in the Premier League era.
United received criticism from all quarters following their 2-1 defeat at home against Brighton & Hove Albion last week. Things only got worse this week as the Red Devils conceded four goals in the first half and never recovered.
Hargreaves, who played for United between 2007 and 2011 and won the Premier League, slammed his former team after their loss to Brentford. The Englishman said that he's tired of criticising the team and can see no positives (as quoted by Metro):
‘‘It’s a privilege and honour to wear that football shirt. We’ve all been there as players, had terrible games, but you get through it by fighting and competing. Forget about the tactics, it’s about winning your individual battles.’’
He added:
‘‘I was hopeful (we would see a response after Brighton). I’m tired of being critical and negative. But what can you say? There wasn’t any positives.’’
Hargreaves believes United lacked aggression and didn't put up a fight after conceding early. The BT Sports pundit said:
‘‘They made some mistakes, and the goals were poor. There was no fight to get back into the game, no tackling, no aggression. Football at this level is about competition; that’s how you make it. Brentford won every battle today. You’ve got to win the battles.’’
He added:
‘‘They weren’t ready against Brighton, and they weren’t ready again. Erik ten Hag is a super coach; he did an amazing job at Ajax, but these two games have not gone to plan. I don’t know how you can turn this around quickly. The confidence is just gone.’’
Manchester United's horror start to season
Following the defeat against Brighton, many Manchester United fans seemed to believe a visit to Brentford could prove to be difficult.
Their fears came true as the hosts went ahead just ten minutes into the game after David de Gea let Josh Dasilva's tame effort go right through him. The Spaniard was at fault once again when his dangerous pass to Eriksen was intercepted by Mathias Jensen in the 18th minute to double Brentford's lead.
Ben Mee then hooked the ball home on the half-hour mark after United failed to deal with a corner. A scintillating counter-attack five minutes later saw Bryan Mbuemo score a fourth to cap an utterly dominant first half.
The visitors did create a few chances after the break, but Brentford emerged comfortable winners. The defeat left Manchester United at the bottom of the Premier League at the end of a day's action for the first time since August 1992.
Their woes could only get compounded next week when they host arch-rivals Liverpool.
