Erik ten Hag has conceded Manchester United showed a lack of leadership in the second-half against Sevilla following criticism from club legend Peter Schmeichel aimed at captain Harry Maguire.
United threw away a two-goal lead in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night at Old Trafford in a wild final six minutes where the hosts scored two own goals.
United’s problems worsened when Lisandro Martinez went down unchallenged late on with latest reports suggesting the Argentina international will miss the rest of the season due to a metatarsal injury.
The 25-year-old was initially carried off the pitch by fellow Argentina internationals Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel.
While the gesture was praised by some, former United goalkeeper Schmeichel was not impressed, insisting Martinez’s teammates – chiefly club captain Maguire – should not have let that happen.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, the former Denmark international said: ‘It looks like [the] Sevilla players are nice carrying him off the pitch. No, they wanted him out so they could get going.
‘[The] United players should have stopped that, that’s a lack of leadership on the pitch. Harry Maguire should have managed that situation.’
Ten Hag was quizzed on Schmeichel’s comments in Friday’s press conference.
Asked if they were fair, the Dutchman said: ‘I think [in] the second half, yes, we dropped down our levels, we dropped our standards, and we make some mistakes and, as I said, we had bad luck definitely with injuries.
‘We had bad luck with the goals – the goals were so lucky, deflected, but you can avoid it and we had to avoid it, so we also have to look in the mirror.’
United will look to dust themselves off away to Nottingham Forest but will be without Martinez and Raphael Varane, another injury casualty from Thursday night.
Marcus Rashford also remains on the sidelines due to a groin injury.
Ten Hag will hope to have his top scorer back for the return leg against Sevilla next Thursday with an FA Cup semi-final with Brighton looming on 23 April.
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