Erik ten Hag pointed out big Manchester United problem while trying to avoid it

It was no surprise to hear Erik ten Hag talk up his team ahead of their trip to face Newcastle tonight. But he was also missing the point with his assessment of their draw with Galatasaray.

He insisted his side were 'very good' in Istanbul, just as they had been in Copenhagen and Munich. On all three occasions, they scored three goals away from home. On all three occasions, they failed to win.

Ten Hag admitted they have to do 'some things better', primarily 'eliminate individual errors' and improve work on the transition, but emphasised that he would be more concerned if they hadn't played well at all.

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There is certainly some logic to his argument. Indeed, if Andre Onana hadn't had such an awful night, they might well have won the game and put themselves on the brink of qualification for the knockout rounds.

In isolation, it is a fair enough assessment of the match, but he pointed out the bigger issue in the process: yes, it was the same against Copenhagen and Bayern Munich as well. That suggests there are underlying problems to fix.

Eliminating individual errors is far easier said than done. Firstly, you have to identify why they keep happening before you can ever hope for them to happen by chance.

It could be down to a lack of confidence, or perhaps even too much, leading to complacency. It could be down to a flaw in the tactics, a system that doesn't work, or a situation that the players simply aren't comfortable playing in. In the worst case, it could be a result of players simply not being good enough, leading to perceptual errors because they can't make the right decisions for themselves.

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