Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, has insisted that his players are not automatons while also acknowledging that he is unsure of the cause of the team’s bad season start and the large number of goals they have given up.

Last season, United recorded more clean sheets in the Premier League than any other club.

But so far this campaign, they have conceded 14 in six games in all competitions.

Bayern Munich scored four on Wednesday in the Champions League to follow up back-to-back 3-1 defeats to Arsenal and Brighton.

“We have shown that we can do it because last year we had the most clean sheets in the Premier League because we defended very well as a team so we have to get back to those standards,” Ten Hag told a news conference on Friday.

“I am pushing the team and demanding from the team at the start of the season, but they are human beings, not robots so why are they not doing it, I try to find out and I try to get and give the solutions and try to motivate the players to do the job.”