Erik ten Hag names the one player he wants his Man Utd squad to 'follow', it's not captain Bruno Fernandes

Erik ten Hag has named the Manchester United star he wants his players to follow after the club's defeat to Bayern Munich.

The Red Devils opened their Champions League campaign with a crushing 4-3 defeat at Bayern on Wednesday.

It's their third defeat in a row, having lost back-to-back Premier League games to Arsenal and Brighton.

Amid Man United's start-of-the-season slump, Ten Hag wants his players to emulate Casemiro, highlighting the example he sets.

Speaking after his side's defeat at the Allianz Arena, the Dutch boss revealed: "He’s the one. I’ve just mentioned, you have to stay in the game. You have to show the leadership in those moments when the team have difficult moments, difficult occasions, and we have to survive."

He added: "All the players can be with him. He shows the example that all the players follow. That’s Casemiro. In the end, he scored two goals."

The veteran Brazilian midfielder scored two lates goal to reduce the deficit as Man United resume their European venture against Galatasaray next month.

Ten also discussed the manner of his team's defeat against Bayern, referencing the principles of their game.

"When we can't do the principles of our own game then we will concede goals," he said.

"Every game is huge. We have to make our own luck. Nobody is going to help you. You see the first 25 minutes we were good, but we didn’t score so we have to stay in the game, but look at the first goal, you have to make it harder to get the shot."

SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated news channel to send you the latest news, features and plenty more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here HERE for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.