Ten Hag charged his squad with a dearth of motivation and vitality during a dismal first-half performance in which they managed a solitary shot.

The situation deteriorated further for the United manager following the intermission when Nicolas Dominguez gave a trailing Forest the lead.

Marcus Rashford equalized with his third goal of the season, but a late strike by Morgan Gibbs-White condemned Manchester United to their fourth loss in their last six matches across all competitions.

“It is disheartening. Such a loss was unwarranted. It was squandered in the opening half. “We lacked sufficient vigor and commitment,” Ten Hag stated.

“More investment is required in the first half.” During the second, we improved. During the initial half, we failed to generate any necessary opportunities.

“These results are obviously below our expectations.” This does not sit well with the athletes, but we must improve.”

United, which are nine points out of the top four, have, for the first time since 1989-90, lost nine of their opening 20 league fixtures.

United, which is currently eighth in all competitions, has suffered 14 losses so far this year; they had more than that number in 1930-31 prior to the start of the year.

They concluded 2023 with a record-setting 21 losses across all competitions, a dismal total that has been surpassed a mere three times in their distinguished history.

“Very inconsistent.”

When queried about United’s dismal performance, Ten Hag attributed it to the injuries that have deprived him of crucial players throughout the season.

“The casualties. Although there are a few other challenges, the injuries impede our progress the most. “A large number of players are returning in January, which will allow us to raise the bar,” he explained.

“We were forced to make another change, which means that we must rotate our teams each time.” That undermines the team’s protocols and explains your extreme inconsistency.

“We had nine distinct backup partnerships.” Even less significant is the fact that the spectators are not interested in hearing this; all they want is to see us triumph, and we must provide them with that.

For the first time since 1994, United suffered its first loss to Forest in front of Dave Brailsford, the chief of sport for the club’s new investors INEOS.

Brailsford, who is seated adjacent to former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson at the City Ground, is Jim Ratcliffe’s right-hand man at INEOS.

On Christmas Eve, British billionaire Ratcliffe acquired a 25 percent stake in United from the Glazers, who were the club’s controversial proprietors. Ratcliffe will now oversee United’s football operations.

Ten Hag, when asked what he believed Brailsford would take away from United’s dismal performance, mentioned the absence of injured striker Rasmus Hojlund, who had scored the game-winning goal against Aston Villa the day before.

“He will certainly recognize that we have our issues.” Ten Hag stated, “You want to build on the previous performance, but we had to change our striker.”

Ten Hag, who has yet to negotiate with Ratcliffe and his party, is in peril of being sacked.

The ex-Ajax manager, however, remains confident in his ability to reverse the tide at a club that is veering perilously off course.

“It will occur.” Without a doubt, he stated as much.

“We will collaborate to establish lofty objectives for accomplishments and structures.” We shall then discuss that.”