Manchester United: Ten Hag sends blunt message to players

After beating

, manager Erik ten Hag said that

Manchester United

players must be ready to "suffer" more if they want to reach their full potential this season.

United shocked their bitter rivals with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Old Trafford on Monday. The result was even more surprising because United had lost their previous two games in shocking ways.

The Red Devils' first two games under Ten Hag were losses to Brighton and Hove Albion and

Brentford

. In London, Brentford beat the Red Devils 4-0. Ten Hag left out Harry Maguire,

, and Luke Shaw from his starting lineup for Liverpool. Their replacements, Raphael Varane, Anthony Elanga, and Tyrell Malacia, all did well in United's first league win over the Reds since 2018.

The United team got a lot of praise for how hard they worked on defense. With 232 pressures on an opponent with the ball, they were the third-best team in the Premier League this season.

But United's most important thing is to ensure that Monday wasn't just a fluke. Ten Hag is warning the team that if they want to keep making progress toward their goals, they will have to be willing to run themselves into the ground.

"I expect players to bring their best spirit every day. On Tuesday, they have to bring it to the club every day, "Ten Hag said on the official United website. It has to be a way of life, and I hope they get it. High performance and high level only work if you have the right attitude and focus. If you accept that you have to hurt yourself and go through pain to reach your best level, you will get there."

On Monday,

and Marcus Rashford scored for United. The two England internationals looked lively and fast, which made it hard for Liverpool's defense to keep up. Both had disappointing seasons last year. Sancho scored only three goals in the Premier League, while Rashford scored four.

United hadn't scored in all competitions since January when they scored against West Ham. Rashford's goal against Liverpool broke that streak. But it's clear that Ten Hag thinks that they could both be very important to United.

"I'm sure they can be a real threat and a real weapon against everyone," Ten Hag said. "As long as they are focused and full of energy, it is hard to stop them. So it's up to the team to put them in the right position, but it's also up to them to have the right attitude, focus, fight, defend, and press in the game. But he also dribbles, puts together plays, and runs behind the defense."

Follow

for the