Man United boss Erik ten Hag warns youngster Omari Forson he would have been sent off had VAR revised his angry kick-off to Julian Ryerson in a Las Vegas friendly loss to Borussia Dortmund
Erik ten Hag told Manchester United teenage winger Omari Forson that he would have been sent off against Borussia Dortmund in Las Vegas if there was VAR on the match.
Ten Hag replaced Forson in the 38th minute of United’s 3–2 defeat to the Bundesliga at the Allegiant Stadium after being involved in a flare-up with defender Julian Ryerson.
Forson angrily kicked out at Ryerson and was then booked for taking on Karim Adeyemi who stepped in to defend his teammate.
Ten Hag immediately told Antony to warm up and sent the Brazilian star to Forson as his feud with Ryerson threatened to escalate.
The 19-year-old winner looked sad to be substituted before the break, and was comforted by Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen as he headed to the touchline where Ten Hag waited to give the youngster a lecture.
Erik ten Hag warned young Omari Forson he risked being sent off in a competitive match with VAR after being kicked out at Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Ryerson
The United boss took Forson off the pitch early after the game and spoke to him on the sidelines
“If there is a VAR, he will be sent off,” said the Dutchman. “He played a good game and the opponent was annoyed with him, so that’s a learning curve, but don’t take matters into your own hands.
“You can’t be the judge, you have to play football, you have to beat your opponent, you have to net and that’s the best way to react.”
United started with a weakened team and took the lead through a fine goal from Diogo Dalot.
But they conceded twice to Donyell Malen in 18 seconds before the break and although Antony equalized early in the second half, Youssoufa Moukoko punished more sloppy defense with a late winner.
Ten Hag, who sent off a number of first-choice players after an hour, described the capitulation as ‘inexcusable’.
He then held off the side longer than expected before the team flew back to Manchester from Las Vegas after losing three of their four games on tour.
“There are no excuses,” he added. “We have to perform anyway and then you have to be relentless and win games because we are Manchester United and the fans expect us to win.
“I said to the team, ‘I think it was a good tour but you want to finish with a good performance and you only see 60 minutes which I was happy with but not with the goals we conceded because they were very poor ‘.
Forson on the ball during United’s 3–2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in their last friendly match
Youssoufa Moukoko scored the winning goal as Borussia Dortmund beat Manchester United
Diogo Dalot (centre) put United ahead with an impressive shot from long range
But two quick goals from Donyell Malen before the break turned the game around for Dortmund
“The first goal was very bad defensively and the second very bad constructive, and we are not. We have to keep control and you have to keep the responsibility with the ball and it was the same with the 3-2 for Dortmund so it can’t happen and it’s unforgivable even if it’s a friendly game.
“We performed well, played as a team, lots of dynamic good press, so it was really nice to see. That’s what I wanted to say to the team at half-time and then suddenly they gave away two goals and they were really giveaways.
“So that was already annoying, but the last half hour was bad, a bad performance. We didn’t follow the rules at all, not in the pressure, not in the build-up and not in the attack, so in the end there were 11 individuals on the field and that was not good at all.’