Hannibal Mejbri display speaks volumes after Ten Hag's brutal Man Utd punishment
It's been a difficult start to the season for Erik ten Hag and Manchester United, but the Dutchman can, at least, be enthused by the recent performances of Hannibal Mejbri.
Mejbri, 20, is rated highly at Old Trafford but his future was uncertain in the summer. He attracted interest from several European clubs after impressing on loan at Birmingham City last year in the Championship, but the Tunisia international agreed to stay put after private talks with Ten Hag towards the end of the transfer window.
The former Monaco youngster has since been given a chance to impress by Ten Hag. After bagging an impressive consolation goal in the 3-1 defeat against Brighton, Mejbri was rewarded with just his second Premier League start against Burnley a week later - and he made the most of it.
Mejbri produced an industrious, eye-catching performance at Turf Moor in a match that Manchester United sorely needed to win. Bruno Fernandes may have pinched the headlines courtesy of his textbook volleyed winner, but Mejbri was a key cog in United's engine room, pressing and harrying Burnley for the full 90 minutes.
It has since been revealed that not only did Mejbri cover more ground than anybody else on the pitch after eating up 12.9 kilometres over the course of the match, but he also ran more than any other Manchester United player this season - a fact that won't be lost on Ten Hag.
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The Old Trafford chief has previously chastised his team for their lack of running and even made his players run 8.5 miles on their day off after they were outrun by Brentford last year. Ten Hag even bemoaned the same "unacceptable" issue just weeks ago following United's 2-0 loss at Tottenham, although he stressed the issue wasn't solely down to his midfielders.
Ten Hag said last month: "It is not about the midfield, it is about the back and the front. That is why we were open. They didn't run. They ran in the wrong moments, too late – especially the front. They didn't recover. It's a demand here - if you want to win games. For the first 35 minutes, we were so good at Tottenham.
Join the debate! Do you think Mejbri should be starting games for Man Utd? Let us know here.
Hannibal Mejbri has made the most of recent opportunities he has been given by Erik ten Hag (Matt McNulty/Getty)"We dominated totally. We should've scored minimum once, I think twice. They were nowhere, nothing. And then things happened in the game and the players got distracted, not doing their jobs anymore.
"I'm not used to it from this team because they always do it. It's what the fans can expect and what we demand. The demand at United is you do it for 90 minutes every game no matter what.
"I have told them that it isn't acceptable. We have to work together as a team and everybody individually has to take responsibility. We need accountable players. The first two games weren't good enough. If we do the right things, we have a very good team. If everyone is doing their job we'll win games."
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