Erik ten Hag urges Man United to be more ruthless in front of goal and to ‘kill inside the box’ after wasting several chances in goalless stalemate with Crystal Palace

Erik ten Hag has urged Manchester United to be more ruthless in front of goal, telling his players they need to ‘kill in the box’.

Although United enjoyed a 7-0 win over Barnsley in the Carabao Cup last week, they have only scored five goals in five games in the Premier League, failing to score in two of them.

United added more firepower in the summer by spending £36.5million on Joshua Zirkzee – having previously spent £72m on Rasmus Hojlund and £86m on Antony under Ten Hag – but the Dutchman believes they still need to be more clinical after finishing with a negative goal difference in the Premier League for the first time last season.

United were guilty of wasting a number of chances in Saturday’s goalless draw at Crystal Palace when Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes hit the bar.

Asked ahead of Wednesday’s Europa League opener against FC Twente against if he is concerned, Ten Hag replied: ‘Concerned? We create a lot of chances in the first games of the season,’ said the United boss. 

Erik ten Hag (left) has urged his Manchester United stars to be more ruthless in front of goal

United were guilty of wasting a number of chances in their goalless draw at Crystal Palace

Bruno Fernandes hit the bar at Selhurst Park, leaving United frustrated in front of goal

‘Last week we scored seven against Barnsley, and we are capable of scoring many goals, but it’s a part of the game we have to improve and kill in the box.

‘There are different aspects on this. Most important is you create chances and we create a lot of good moments.

‘We are very creative, we have many opportunities to score goals. So keep this process going and work on finishing.’