Manchester United

Erik ten Hag pleased with "good week" in Spain despite two defeats

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 11 December 2022

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag says that the Red Devils had "a good week" in Spain despite losing to Cadiz and Real Betis.

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has said that the Red Devils had "a good week" in Spain despite losing their two mid-season friendlies to La Liga opposition.

The 20-time English champions suffered a 4-2 defeat to Cadiz in their first game on Wednesday before going down 1-0 to Real Betis on Saturday.

The majority of the squad that travelled to Spain were from the club's academy, with a number of first-team players missing due to the 2022 World Cup.

Ten Hag has admitted that he was unhappy with aspects of the performances against both Cadiz and Real Betis, but the Dutchman has taken the positives from the training camp.

Manchester United's Isak Hansen-Aaroen in action with Real Betis' Nabil Fekir on December 10, 2022 © Reuters

"I think we had a good week, there was a good spirit. The lads worked really well, really hard. Our main objective from the week was better fitness and I think we did it, we made the progress there," Ten Hag told MUTV.

"Also, we integrated some young lads, integrated them in the way of play and the way of playing with intensity so they can step up. With some of them, I was quite happy, so that is a big win for the future.

"We made progression. As you've seen, we were again a really young team, they [Real Betis] had an experienced team.

"The first half was okay, I think we had some good attacks. We were better than in the game against Cadiz, also from the intensity, so I was quite happy with that first half.

"In the second half we made a bad start, [we were] undisciplined. It killed us against Cadiz and now again. We really have to step up."

Cadiz's Carlos Garcia in action with Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho in a mid-season friendly on December 7, 2022 © Reuters

Man United will now switch their attention to their EFL Cup fourth-round contest with Burnley, which will take place at Old Trafford on December 21.

The 20-time English champions will then resume their Premier League campaign at home to Nottingham Forest on December 27.

Following the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, which saw Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal and England all eliminated, Man United now only have two players at the competition - Argentina's Lisandro Martinez and France's Raphael Varane.

Man United's last competitive match was on November 13, with Alejandro Garnacho scoring a last-gasp winner against Fulham in the Premier League.