Ten Hag praises Man Utd "standards" as he puts positive spin on West Ham defeat

Erik ten Hag has called for Manchester United to meet the standards shown during the defeat at West Ham every game.

United have now lost more games than they have won across all competitions this season and this was one of the most uninspiring displays yet. Attacking woes have plagued the Red Devils all season and this latest low marked the fourth game in a row without a goal, the first time they've managed such a run since 1992.

However, the United boss was happy with aspects of the performance and insisted his side were the better of the two before West Ham's opening goal. Ten Hag told the BBC: "I think it was a decent 72 minutes where we didn't take our chances.

"We should've gone in the lead but we didn't and then it was one moment of switching off." He continued by praising his players, adding that United have already shown they can hold their own against the very best despite a dire away record against the other nine sides in the top 10.

"At this moment we are not top, but we have seen last week against the top of this league we were head-to-head," Ten Hag explained. "We didn't score, we had the best opportunities of the game.

"There we defended very well for 90 minutes, that has to be always our standard like what we did there. You have to bring that to every game on the pitch."

The first half was one of a few chances, but Alejandro Garnacho spurned the only clear-cut opportunity when he fired straight at Alphonse Areola. The second-half saw momentum eventually swing in West Ham's favour and Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring in the 72nd minute.

Latching on to a perfectly weighted Lucas Paqueta through ball, Bowen's first effort was saved by Andre Onana but the save deflected back off of the forward's shin and into the back