David de Gea carried the can for Manchester United's humiliation at Brentford and admitted the players “panicked” under pressure.
United's 4-0 capitulation at the Gtech Community Stadium condemned new manager Erik ten Hag to the worst start by a Red Devils boss since John Chapman in 1921. Calamity keeper De Gea took the blame for the first two goals, allowing Josh Dasilva's tame shot to squirm through his hands and then supplying Christian Eriksen with a hospital pass to present Mathias Jensen with the second.
As travelling fans demanded the removal of the American Glazer family as owners, and heckled United players angrily as they boarded the team coach afterwards, De Gea was at least decent enough to front up. But he warned United needed more bravery, more consistency and “proper players” to atone for the shameful display which left them rock-bottom of the embryonic Premier League table.
De Gea said: “I must take responsibility, I think I cost two points to the team today. That first goal cannot happen. As a team we should react much better than we did, but I think I cost the team two points.
“For the first goal, sometimes you think it’s an easy ball and you don’t put the proper focus on the ball - that happens in football and in life, sometimes you make mistakes.”
De Gea became the latest keeper to be embarrassed attempting to play out from the back, and Jensen's finish for the brilliant Bees was far more composed than the car-crash which preceded it.
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“I should read the game better - they were pressing really well and high, so maybe I should play longer balls,” admitted the crestfallen United goalkeeper. “But that’s football again, it happens, for sure we’re going to learn, we have to learn and we have to play much better than today.
“Now the most important thing is to keep training well, keep training to help the team, but today was a horrible game.” De Gea revealed Ten Hag told his his team their first-half capitulation was “unacceptable” in the shell-shocked away dressing room at the interval and that the disaster movie they unfurled in 35 minutes was “horrible.”
United were unbeaten in pre-season, and christened the Ten Hag era with cautious optimism, but it has quickly evaporated in back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Brentford. And De Gea conceded the horror shows of last season, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick struggled to turn around the sinking ship, were still playing on the players' minds.
He said: “In pre-season, there’s no pressure, you play for nothing. Then you play Premier League games where everything is different, teams put everything on the pitch, the teams are good, it’s not easy.
“We have to stick together as a team now, train even harder and even better, I can’t say more to be honest.
“Of course, it’s been difficult seasons, probably it’s still in our minds, when something goes wrong people a get panicky, it’s difficult. But we have to learn, we have a new manager, some new players, we need to be more positive, keep learning and improve.
“How to fix it? It’s about winning games - as soon as we win one game, two games, we’re going to start feeling better and more positive. We’re training really well, people are training hard, everyone is giving everything, but then in the games we are not performing.
"Of course we have to react much better and be capable of scoring goals. It was a poor performance. When you play the games that matter you need bravery, more consistency and proper players.
"We just need to stick together as a team and keep working. It's just the beginning. We have a lot to improve as a team with a new manager.
“I'm just taking my responsibility because I think I cost three points for my team. It was a poor performance from myself.
"After the first mistake and then the second, it was very difficult for my team-mates. At the moment it's tough every time we concede a goal. I should save the first shot - [if I had] the result would be different."
