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Erik ten Hag used a method Sir Alex Ferguson would have been proud of to motivate his players for Manchester United's 2-1 win over Liverpool.
United were absolutely hammered by the press after starting the new season with dismal defeats to Brighton and Brentford and the pressure was already on Ten Hag.
But the Red Devils picked up their first win of the season in stunning fashion on Monday night as goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford sunk Liverpool.
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The performance level and work-rate saw a drastic improvement and renewed the optimism that United fans had lost following the 4-0 drubbing at Brentford.
Ten Hag made brave but shrewd tactical changes in dropping both Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire, but further details have emerged as to how he got a reaction from his squad.
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According to David McDonnell from The Mirror, Ten Hag used some of the brutal quotes from pundits to light the fire.
Some of the most damning lines were "United simply aren't good enough", “Liverpool to win 5-0 again", "Can’t run", "not a team” and "they could go down".
These were stuck on walls around the AON training complex and also in the dressing room beforehand.
In addition, the former Ajax boss made his players aware of the standards they fell below by sticking up statistics on distances ran, passing, clearances and ball recoveries.
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Brentford ran 13.8km more than United and a seething Ten Hag made his players come in on their day off to jog that same distance.
Remarkably, the Dutchman also joined his players in running 8.5 mile in 33 degree heat. He was said to be "physically shattered" but his antics made a 'deep impression' on the players, who were "raging" to begin with.
And in the victory over Liverpool, United ran 19km more than their opponents at Old Trafford.
Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Premier League, Liverpool
Josh Lawless