Facing his former club, FC Twente, Ten Hag and the Red Devils started well, with Christian Eriksen’s brilliant strike putting them ahead.
However, they failed to build on their advantage, allowing Sam Lammers to equalise in the second half, leading to a disappointing 1-1 draw.
Ten Hag was clearly unimpressed with his side’s second-half display, accusing them of losing focus and failing to give their best effort.
“We are very ambitious and when you have ambition you have to perform and prove the point,” said the Dutch manager.
“Today, particularly in the second half, we were too complacent. We didn’t bring it over the line and, as a team, you have to bring this.”
The United boss was particularly critical of his side’s inability to stop Twente’s right-back from advancing through the midfield, leading to the equaliser.
“Once you’re 1-0 up, you have to keep going and go for the second. We dropped our level and gave the goal away,” he added.
Christian Eriksen, who opened the scoring but was involved in the mistake that led to Twente’s equaliser, echoed Ten Hag’s frustration.
“They looked like they wanted it more than us, and that can’t be right,” said Eriksen. “Everyone is disappointed as a team. A game like today, obviously we don’t lose, but it feels like a loss.”
Ten Hag concluded that United must learn from their lackluster display, emphasising the need for total commitment. “99 per cent is not enough, you have to give 100 per cent. You have to kill the game,” he stressed.