Manchester United's Erik Ten Hag Fumes After Loss to Norwegian Team in Preseason

Patrick Andres | Jul 15, 2024

Mar 25, 2013; Mexico City, MEXICO; General view of FIFA soccer ball at United States training session at Estadio Azteca in advance of World Cup qualifying match against Mexico. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

After an up-and-down 2024, Manchester United entered its preseason opener on Monday hoping to turn over a new leaf. Its opponent: Rosenborg, a traditional Norwegian power sitting at 11th place in the 16-team Eliteserien.

Instead, the club picked up right where it left off. Rosenborg forward Noah Holm scored in the third minute of stoppage time to hand his squad a 1-0 win in Trondheim, Norway.

After the game, Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag savaged his club for its lackadaisical performance.

"The result is not secondary. We play pre-season but at Manchester United, there's a standard," Ten Hag said postgame via Sky Sports. "You win games. Definitely you don't lose games. If you can't win, don't lose the game as we did at the end, the last second of the game."

Rosenborg outshot Ten Hag's team 22–5, allowing Manchester United goalie Radek Vitek to make six saves.

"Let's say he got the opportunity from the team to make some very good saves—because our performance as a team is by far not good enough," Ten Hag said.

Manchester United finished eighth in the Premier League and exited the Champions League in the group state in '24, although it did win the FA Cup.