Erik ten Hag reveals what he told Man Utd players after loss at Chelsea
- Man Utd threw away three points against Chelsea on Thursday evening
- Erik ten Hag felt his side were 'dominant' approaching the game's conclusion
- Cole Palmer's hat-trick helped ease the pressure on Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino
Erik ten Hag bemoaned the decision making of his Manchester United players following their remarkable 4-3 loss against Chelsea this week.
United were poised to secure all three points at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night, courtesy of Alejandro Garnacho's brace and Bruno Fernandes' solitary goal, which nullified Conor Gallagher's early strike and Cole Palmer's penalty.
However, Palmer - in red-hot form - was on hand to score again from the spot in the 100th minute and secured his hat-trick in the 101st to inflict a 12th Premier League defeat on Ten Hag's side this season.
Diego Dalot's clumsy foul resulted in the spot kick being coolly converted by Palmer to level the score at 3-3. Following the restart, the Portuguese defender embarked on a desperate offensive push, which Chelsea capitalised on with a swift counter-attack. And Palmer, left unmarked, received the ball from a subsequent corner and unleashed a shot which took a wicked deflection to seal victory for the home side.
"We started the game poor, making individual errors. And, of course, that [stoppage-time goals] frustrates me the most," Ten Hag said at a press conference on Friday.
"I had the feeling we were dominating the game and we fought back into the game. We put ourselves in a winning position by some very good football, sometimes brilliant football, scoring great goals.
"In stoppage time, we didn't manage it. We didn't bring the win over the line and that's frustrating. They [the players] know their jobs and they have to make the right decisions.
"We didn't make the right decisions, we didn't react quick enough to avoid this situation."
Regarding what he told the United squad, Ten Hag added: "I said today to the players, we have to make better decisions, it's our strength. You saw again how we score from counters - we can be such a massive threat. And we have seen today an example with tempo, how we can beat our opponents, where we are unstoppable.
"But we have to read when to keep the ball, especially when you are winning. Keep the ball, pass and move and switch the play instead of giving the ball away or going only into long balls. Bring the ball into the opponent's half, keep passing, discourage the opponent.
"But then if you have to defend you have to do it proper and we made the wrong decisions. And on individual errors and that's very frustrating if you're playing a good game."
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