Footage of one Bayern counterattack, in which the referee outpaced Facundo Pellistri, Scott McTominay, Marcus Rashford — and others — as they ambled back towards their own box, will trouble Ten Hag, who told his players from day one that they must work hard off the ball.
When asked if he knew why his players had stopped pressing and tracking back, Ten Hag said: “No. When you are in a period like we are in, you always as a manager ask yourself these questions. My job is to get them to do the job.”
Ten Hag plans to hold talks with the players and use video analysis as part of his bid to rectify the problem.
“As a manager you have many tools and I make sure I use them,” he said.
“You have to be creative; you have to be innovative. You do it in groups, individually, you do it over video, you do it in personal talks. You have many tools to coach, to make sure the team is
in the right direction.”