Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag used criticism from ex-player pundits to motivate his players ahead of victory over Liverpool.
United stunned Jurgen Klopp's side 2-1 at Old Trafford on Monday with a performance that suggested Ten Hag can turn their fortunes around and lead them back to success.
It has emerged the United coach used criticism of his players and damning statistics from their opening two defeats to get them in the right frame of mind to beat Liverpool. A United source revealed Ten Hag printed off withering quotes from pundits and stuck them up at the Red Devils' training ground complex and in the dressing room, reports the Mirror.
Some of the quotes made by pundits and displayed by Ten Hag included: “United simply aren't good enough", “Liverpool to win 5-0 again", “Can't run", “not a team" and “they could go down". Ten Hag also printed off statistics - including distance covered, passing percentages, clearances and ball recoveries - and displayed them around the training ground on a daily basis, to show his players how poor they had been compared to other teams.
The move was designed to show the squad the level it needed to get to to beat Liverpool - and it worked. United covered more distance – 114km - and made 51 more sprints than Klopp's men in their deserved win, their first under Ten Hag.