Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag believes that his team still need to work on the psychological side of football in order to overcome past traumas.
Ten Hag was speaking after United squandered a 2-0 lead over Sevilla on Thursday night to draw 2-2 in their Europa League quarter-final first leg. Marcel Sabitzer had put the Reds in control of the contest in the opening stages with a quickfire brace.
But a Tyrell Malacia own goal followed by Harry Maguire inadvertently diverting the ball into the net in stoppage time means that United still have plenty of work to do in Spain next week to progress to the semi-finals. Assessing what went wrong at Old Trafford in midweek, Ten Hag admitted that United still had work to do to get back to the top of European football.
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"It says something about the position where we are," United's manager told Sky Sports. "It still shows we need progress, especially on the psychological side of the game.
"We have to manage games better; we have to stay in games or not allow opponents to come back into games. We have to step up with certain mental strengths and certain mental standards. I think we have come a long way. I also think there were some traumatic experiences this group had in previous years.
"Sevilla was a good learning moment for us. We need to think about that and learn from those moments who has to take the lead and which standards we have to control in certain moments to avoid letting the opponent back into the game.
"The biggest teams always show composure in those moments and stick to the plan, stay in the game and find a way to bounce back. What we are capable of is bouncing back between games, now the next step is to bounce back in the game.
"If you want to get back to winning trophies, that has to be the standard you always deliver. That you manage games and get wins over the line. In many games already we have shown it, so we know we can do it because we have the evidence for it. But we have to do it, always."
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