Erik ten Hag has responded to Gary Neville’s criticism of Manchester United forward Wout Weghorst.
Gary Neville spoke in the wake of Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at the weekend and called for striker Wout Weghorst to be dropped.
Neville told Sky Sports Monday Night Football: “This experiment has to stop, Weghorst has to come out, it can no longer go on.”
Erik ten Hag was asked about these comments in his press conference ahead of Manchester United’s game with Brentford.
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Ten Hag responds to Neville
Erik ten Hag was well prepared for the question. He had clearly paid attention to Gary Neville’s previous comments.
He pointed out that Neville had actually previously been complimentary about Weghorst.
Ten Hag was quoted by club media: “I also saw another comment from Gary Neville where he was conflicted on the performance of Wout and [he said] that with Wout, we are quite successful. I think that’s the evidence.
“That’s what I can say about that. I am happy with him because he’s [Weghorst] doing a great job for this team.”
In this case, you could argue that both Neville and Ten Hag are correct in what they are saying.
On the same Monday Night Football segment, Neville pointed out that Manchester United scored more goals as a team in matches Weghorst started, than with Cristiano Ronaldo earlier in the year.
So as Ten Hag points out and Neville, the situation is acknowledges, the situation is more nuanced than simply ‘he’s good’ or ‘he’s bad’.
What Manchester United have now, which has not been the case since Weghorst’s arrival, is a fit and healthy Anthony Martial.
Martial came off the bench at the weekend for half an hour, and is in contention to start against Brentford. Neville is perfectly entitled to call for Weghorst to sit this one out – most Manchester United fans feel the same way.
Ten Hag may do so too. But as he points out, Weghorst can still play a role. At the very least, he is a dependable presence.
With Martial, we simply don’t know from one week to the next whether his fitness will hold up.
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