Erik ten Hag blasts Man Utd players for 'horror start' against Nottingham Forest but praises team's 'personality' for rallying to win 3-2

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag did not hold back in his criticism of his side's dreadful start in their 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest.

The Dutch manager did not shy away from the fact his side had made huge errors early in the match, after conceding two goals within the opening four minutes at Old Trafford. Taiwo Awoniyi ran through the pitch unopposed to score the first while Willy Boly capitalised on slack defending to head in the second goal. United, helped by Forest captain Joe Worrall being sent off, turned things around thanks to strikes from Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and a Bruno Fernandes penalty.

It is a horror start, giving them two goals and making mistakes, Ten Hag told a press conference. But I am very pleased with the comeback, the leadership, how we stayed calm and composed and stuck to the plans and belief and turned it around. And I think we played very good football, out of our plan we scored very good goals.

United have six points from three games but are yet to put in a convincing performance, having scraped a 1-0 win over Wolves then lost 2-0 at Tottenham before this topsy-turvy display against Forest. However, Ten Hag took comfort in the spirit his side showed.

We have a lot of personality in this team, to stay calm after such a messy start is brilliant, he added. Not many teams can do it but we often bounce back and we did it again. If we show this belief and this character we can go far. The Red Devils visit Arsenal in their next Premier League game on September 3.