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Manchester United loss to Brentford, Gary Neville reaction, Joel Glazer, David de Gea interview, Erik ten Hag press conference

Manchester United legend Gary Neville says his former team hit “a new low” during its embarrassing loss to Brentford before unleashing on the club’s owners for a hands-off approach that has created a “toxic” environment.

Erik ten Hag’s bad start as Manchester United manager descended into an embarrassment on Sunday morning (AEST) as a 4-0 thrashing by Brentford left the Red Devils bottom of the Premier League for the first time in 30 years.

United have now conceded four goals or more seven times in the Premier League since the start of last season.

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Brentford, who only ended a 74-year absence from English football’s top flight with promotion to the Premier League in August 2021, punished a series of errors to score four times in the first 35 minutes to spark joyous scenes at their west London ground.

United fell behind in woeful fashion when goalkeeper David de Gea somehow let a Josh Dasilva shot slip through his grasp before Mathias Jensen struck as the visitors failed to play out from the back. Ben Mee then exposed United’s frailty from set-pieces for his first Brentford goal and Bryan Mbuemo rounded off a stunning counter-attack 10 minutes before half-time.

David De Gea of ​​Manchester United acknowledges fans following the defeat in the Premier League.  Picture: Catherine Iville
David De Gea of ​​Manchester United acknowledges fans following the defeat in the Premier League. Picture: Catherine IvilleSource: Getty Images

De Gea took the extraordinary step of voluntarily fronting the media post-game to take responsibility for the loss, telling Sky Sports: “I think I cost three points to my team today to be honest. It was a poor performance from myself… It was a horrible day.”

But ten Hag said he was the “main responsibility” for a humiliating loss.

The jubilant home support taunted Ten Hag with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning”. But the Dutch coach has inherited a rabble rather than being the root cause as United lost a seventh consecutive away league match for the first time since 1936.

“We all have seen the game. I think Brentford were more hungry and we conceded goals to individual mistakes,” said Ten Hag.

“You can have a good plan but that puts the plan in the bin.”

Liverpool legend Jamie Redknapp pointed to stats from the game that showed Brentford covered 109.4km during the match compared to Manchester United’s 95.6km

“That for me is just not good enough by any stretch of the imagination,” Redknapp told Sky Sports.

Manchester United’s striker Cristiano Ronaldo reacts as Brentford players celebrate. Picture: Ian KingtonSource: AFP

“You’re not always good, you can’t always play great – but you can always run around. That is so damning for that Manchester United team – I don’t care who the manager is, I don’t care who the owners are, that has got nothing to do with it. That is running for the shirt.

“That is a disgrace from their point of view. If you’re the manager and you go into the dressing room and you show them that, I would be so embarrassed a footballer

“From the players that started and finished that game, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more abject performance from a club that I would regard as one of the biggest in the world to play like that.

“I just don’t think they showed they cared.”

Neville said Manchester United players had now come under three different managers “they don’t work as hard as the teams they’re playing against”.

“How long have we been saying in football ‘hard work will beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard’? That Manchester United team don’t run hard enough, they don’t run fast enough,” Neville told Sky Sports.

Manchester United’s manager Erik ten Hag. Picture: Ian KingtonSource: AFP

“They are absolutely drained of all confidence, they’re struggling badly – ​​and they have been now for 12 months.

“Today was a new low. It seems that continually Manchester United can surpass their previous lows – and when is the lowest low going to come? Because the reality of it is this is really, really bad.”

United were last crowned champions of England in the 2012/13 season in manager Alex Ferguson’s final campaign before retirement.

The arrival of £57 million ($69 million) centre-back Lisandro Martinez from Ajax has done little to shore up United’s leaky defense and questions will be asked of why Ten Hag has left Raphael Varane on the bench in favor of the Argentine and the out -of-sorts Harry Maguire.

While Ten Hag was keen to bolster his squad, he was adamant the team he sat out at Brentford was far better than this result indicated.

“It is clear we need players but I don’t want to think about that at this moment,” he said.

“The good players we had should have been better. I hoped for a better start, but still I have to believe because I have seen good things but the two games from now are disappointing.”

Former England full-back Neville – a longstanding critic of the Glazer family, the club’s US-based owners – slammed the hierarchy at Old Trafford for failing to give Ten Hag adequate support.

United fans are fuming. Picture: Catherine IvilleSource: Getty Images

“Manchester United have known for eight to 10 months they needed to rebuild the squad for the summer,” said Neville, now to Sky pundit.

“To not get the players in early, the quality of the players, the number of players that Erik ten Hag needed to be able to start the season, is baffling and difficult to forgive.”

Neville said the only money spent by Manchester United on players was from cash generated or borrowed “through its incredible fan base and a great commercial operation”.

“There’s a family over there in America who are just literally letting their employees take all the hits for them – and that is unforgivable,” Neville said.

“Joel Glazer has got to get on a plane… get over to Manchester and he’s got to start to divert the issues away from the club and tell everybody what the hell this plan is with the football club. What is he doing?

“You can look at the players all you like, but there are that many big things that need to be put right first, they’ve got to show up and basically face the music. Now’s the time. You can’t keep hanging over in Tampa and thinking that nothing’s going to come back to you.

Manchester United’s defender Harry Maguire. Picture: Ian KingtonSource: AFP

“These owners since Sir Alex Ferguson have proven in 10 years they cannot manage a forward-thinking football club. It’s been overtaken in every single department and it’s painful and it’s woeful.

“At this moment in time, there has been a toxic culture and atmosphere created at the club over a 10-year period without its leader, Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill, who were propping the club up whilst the family sat there in America glorifying the fact that they were part of it. We’re now seeing what has happened without Sir Alex Ferguson, without David Gill, without leadership. We’re now seeing what’s happening and it’s a mess.

“It cannot continue to go on.”

United host Liverpool, who beat their historic rivals 5-0 and 4-0 last season, in their next game on August 22.

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Premier League results, scores, table, Manchester United loss to Brentford, Arsenal, Manchester City

Manchester United suffered an embarrassing 4-0 thrashing by Brentford to sink to the bottom of the Premier League.

As soaring temperatures across England meant water breaks were introduced at all this weekend’s Premier League games, United melted away in the first-half in West London to continue Erik ten Hag’s nightmare start as manager.

The Red Devils were 4-0 down after just 35 minutes as Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbuemo put Ten Hag’s men to the sword.

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“I feel really sorry for the fans, we let them down,” said Ten Hag.

“I think Brentford were more hungry and we conceded goals to individual mistakes. You can have a plan but that puts the plan in the bin.”

Cristiano Ronaldo was selected in the Dutch coach’s starting line-up after starting last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton on the bench, but rather than riding to the rescue, his presence only compounded United’s problems.

Manchester United's manager Erik ten Hag.  Picture: Ian Kington
Manchester United’s manager Erik ten Hag. Picture: Ian KingtonSource: AFP

United have now lost seven consecutive league games away from home for the first time since 1936. They finished the day on the bottom of the Premier League table for the first time since August 1992.

CITY ‘CAN GO UP A LEVEL’

Manchester City went top as the champions rolled over Bournemouth 4-0, while Arsenal also have a maximum six points from two games after Gabriel Jesus starred in their 4-2 win over Leicester.

Erling Haaland failed to score on his home debut for City but the Norwegian showed there is more to his game than goals as he used his strength before sliding in Ilkay Gundogan to open the scoring at the Etihad.

Kevin De Bruyne then took center stage with a scintillating finish with the outside of his right foot to find the far corner before the Belgian turned provider for Phil Foden to make it 3-0 before half-time.

“I think we can go up a level,” warned De Bruyne. “Leading 3-0 fairly quickly makes it easy.”

City eased off after the break but added to their lead 11 minutes from time when Jefferson Lerma turned Joao Cancelo’s cross into his own net.

Haaland’s arrival at City was one of the factors behind Jesus’ departure and the Brazilian is already looking like a bargain for the Gunners as he marked his home debut with two goals and two assists to maintain Arsenal’s perfect start. Jesus’ became the first Arsenal player to score two goals on home Premier League debut.

Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal. Picture: Julian FinneySource: Getty Images

Jesus was often deployed in wider areas by City boss Pep Guardiola, but was brought to Arsenal to be a number nine as he aims to secure a place at the World Cup later this year with regular games as a centre-forward.

“I’m really enjoying playing number nine for Arsenal,” said Jesus. “I wasn’t not happy at City, but I just wanted to play.”

The 25-year-old showed his eye for goal with a sumptuous chip over Danny Ward to break Leicester’s resistance and doubled his tally by heading home a corner at the back post.

Twice Leicester were given a lifeline by Arsenal mistakes through William Saliba’s own goal and James Maddison’s strike that squirmed under Aaron Ramsdale.

However, on both occasions, Mikel Arteta’s men hit back quickly to restore a two-goal lead through Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli.

GERRARD BEATS LAMPARD

Steven Gerrard won his first managerial clash with former England teammate Frank Lampard as Aston Villa beat Everton 2-1.

Goals from Danny Ings and Emi Buendia eased the pressure on the former Liverpool captain after a run of two wins in their previous 12 games dating back to last season.

However, Villa had to survive a nervy finish as Lucas Digne’s own goal gave Everton hope before Emi Martinez twice denied Anthony Gordon.

Aston Villa Manager Steven Gerrard and Everton Manager Frank Lampard shake hands after full time. Picture: Marc AtkinsSource: Getty Images

Leeds missed the chance to join City and Arsenal on six points, blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Southampton.

Brighton and Newcastle failed to build on their impressive starts last weekend as both missed chances aplenty in a 0-0 draw at the Amex.

It was also scoreless between Wolves and Fulham at Molineux after Aleksandar Mitrovic saw a late penalty saved by Jose Sa in the home team’s goal.

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Transfer news, rumours, Willian to Fulham, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Chelsea, Marcus Rashford to PSG, latest, updates

A Brazilian winger with over 250 Premier League appearances to his name could be returning to the English top flight, while Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel revealed his admiration for a top transfer target.

Catch up on all of the transfer whispers doing the rounds in the latest edition of the Rumor Mill!

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BRAZILIAN STAR LINKED WITH PL MOVE AFTER MESSY EXIT DUE TO DEATH THREATS

Former Chelsea and Arsenal midfielder Willian quit Corinthians on Saturday (AEST) following the Brazilians’ Copa Libertadores elimination against domestic rivals Flamengo, after claiming he and his family received death threats on social media.

“Willian asked us for his (contract) termination. We are sad not to have him any more and also because it didn’t go the way we expected. But we have to keep those here that are happy,” said club president Duilio Monteiro Alves.

It was only a year ago that the 34-year-old only rejoined the club where he made his professional debut in 2006. Local media have linked him with a move to promoted English Premier League side Fulham.

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The return to Corinthians in Sao Paulo quickly turned sour for Willian both on the pitch where he scored one goal in 45 matches, and off it.

“Whenever Corinthians lost and I didn’t play well, my family received threats and insults on social media. My wife, my children, recently they also started attacking my father, my sister,” Willian told the Globo Esporte website.

“I didn’t play as well as I expected but I was never a player who scored 20 or 30 goals a season,” he told ESPN Brasil on Wednesday.

Willian, who also played for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine and Russians Anzhi Makhachkala, leaves the club three days after they were eliminated from the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals by Flamengo, 3-0 on aggregate

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TUCHEL ‘VERY, VERY CLOSE’ WITH TOP TRANSFER TARGET

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel said he will always have a “close bond” with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as speculation links the Barcelona forward with a move to Stamford Bridge.

The Blues are looking to reinforce their forward line after the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner.

Aubameyang, who only joined Barcelona in January, would appear to fit the bill with both Premier League experience from four years at Arsenal and the time he spent under Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund.

The Gabon international scored 79 goals in 95 appearances under Tuchel.

“This is totally separate from anything that is happening now, but I enjoyed a lot working with Auba while I was at Dortmund,” said Tuchel on Friday at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s visit of Tottenham.

“Some players stay your players because you were very, very close, and Auba is one of those players.

“There was always straight away this close bond. They always stay your players in a way.”

A behind-the-scenes documentary on Arsenal’s 2021/22 season has revealed the scale of disciplinary breaches that saw Mikel Arteta freeze Aubameyang out of the Gunners’ first-team squad.

However, Tuchel said “there was never an issue” with Aubameyang’s discipline during their time in Germany.

Chelsea has been linked with a move for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.  (Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP)
Chelsea has been linked with a move for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. (Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP)Source: AFP

RED DEVILS BOSS QUASHES TALK OF STAR WINGER’S SHOCK EXIT

Erik ten Hag expects Marcus Rashford to remain at Manchester United despite rumors this week that Paris St Germain have made contact with the forward’s representatives.

Rashford’s form dipped dramatically last season as he scored just four goals in 25 Premier League games, which has led to him being dropped from the England squad just months before the World Cup.

The 24-year-old, who has one year left on his contract with a club option for a further year, has twice scored in wins against PSG in the Champions League at the Parc des Princes.

But Ten Hag said he is too important to lose despite his struggle for form, which continued in a 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton in the Dutch coach’s first match in charge last weekend.

“He’s really important,” Ten Hag said. “You have seen from the first day I’m here, I’m really happy with him, I don’t want to lose him.

“He’s definitely in our plans at Manchester United.”

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