Ten Hag regrets not sacking naive players at half time

Erik ten Hag said he could have taken off all of his “naïve” players at half-time after a catalogue of errors put them 4-0 down at the interval against Brentford.

In an astonishing first half in some intense west London heat, Manchester United put in one of their worst performances in 30 years of playing in the Premier League – with Ten Hag’s mistake-laden side doing their new manager no favours.

Goalkeeper David de Gea let Josh Dasilva’s simple shot crawl under his body at the near post after 10 minutes before the goalkeeper’s pass put former Brentford player Christian Eriksen in trouble, with Mathias Jensen gaining possession in the penalty area for a simple finish .

The Bees managed to double that advantage before half-time, with Ben Mee leaping over Lisandro Martinez to head home on his home debut before Ivan Toney fed Bryan Mbuemo to finish off a blistering counter-attack for their fourth after just 35 minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo recalled to the starting line-up – wasted three chances in a result that leaves Ten Hag’s side bottom of the Premier League with zero points, with Liverpool their next opponents at Old Trafford in nine days’ time on Monday Night Football.