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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Tyrone Marshall

Diogo Dalot explains how Erik ten Hag has changed Manchester United mentality after defeats

Diogo Dalot has praised Erik ten Hag for changing the way the Manchester United squad reacts to defeats this season.

United have won 19 of Ten Hag's 26 games in charge and they've recovered well from losing the first two games of the campaign to Brighton and then Brentford, where they lost 4-0 on a dreadful day for the club.

After losing 6-3 at the Etihad in the Manchester derby at the start of October, United went on a nine-game unbeaten run, and they've responded to a 3-1 loss to Aston Villa by winning seven games in a row ahead of Tuesday's Carabao Cup quarter-final with Charlton.

READ MORE: United working on new Weghorst deal as Besiktas offer rejected

Ten Hag made the United squad train the day after the debacle at Brentford and he had every player run 13.8kms, the collective distance by which the team had been outrun in the game, even joining in the punishment himself.

Dalot pinpoints the way United are now reacting and responding to defeats as one of the key changes under Ten Hag. Asked during a Q&A for season ticket holders what difference the Dutchman had made, it was this trait that the full-back touched upon.

"When you are winning games it's easier to see that and everyone is in a good mood and motivated and it's when the things didn't go as we wanted we actually did a good job and actually we bounced back," he said.

"So we had some results this season that we didn't expect, especially at the beginning of the season, so the way that we work after that is one of the biggest differences that I've noticed since I've been here.

"Because in the past we have lost games and this season we have lost games, but the way we reacted after it made a difference so far and this is what I think is going to build us to be in a better position as a club, as players, as staff, as the manager.

"I think when the things aren't going in the way that you want and you bounce after that has been the biggest difference since I arrived."

United will look to make it eight wins in a row against the League One Addicks at Old Trafford, securing a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

The club hasn't won a trophy since winning this competition and the Europa League in 2017 and Dalot is still without a medal from his time at United, but he knows winning something this year could be a significant turning point.

"I think it has to be an obsession for us to win trophies, to win things. I think you guys feel even more than me, you are here longer than me, that we have to win," he said.

"This club is about winning trophies. It is about competing and fighting in every trophy that we are in. And this Carabao is not smaller than a Champions League, than a Europa League.

"Obviously it's different dimensions but for us it's a trophy and we want to win it. Obviously, to arrive there, to go to Wembley it's a tough journey. We know, it's difficult.

"But we want to take these small steps first. And every time we make a step we want to do it with the certainty that we are moving in the right direction and I think we are in the right direction but the reality that we are not there yet.

"But to arrive there we have to build many things first and I think this competition would a very first big and firm step that we could take, especially because it is the first trophy of the season, and we are close.

"We have to have this type of mentality and face the game tomorrow like it is a Premier League game or the Europa League final or something like this. We have to, as it should and hopefully we can be celebrating in a month or so."

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