Gary Neville has questioned Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag after his half-time substitution against Manchester City.
United suffered another dreadful derby day with Manchester City sadly running riot at Old Trafford.
Erling Haaland’s brace and a Phil Foden tap-in handed City a 3-0 victory, leaving United fans to deal with another difficult afternoon in this rivalry.
Questions are being asked of Erik ten Hag with performances a major concern this season.
The Dutchman did try to change it at half-time, but his decision left Gary Neville rather puzzled…
Gary Neville baffled by Erik ten Hag decision
Ten Hag decided to bring off Sofyan Amrabat and bring on Mason Mount, reshuffling his midfield in the process.
Scott McTominay dropped a little deeper alongside Christian Eriksen with Mount operating further forward.
The decision to take off United’s only recognised defensive midfield player in Amrabat was a curious one, with Eriksen struggling in the first half.
Pundit and former United right back Neville wasn’t impressed and told Sky Sports during the game (51min) that he was baffled by the change.
Neville felt that taking Eriksen off would have made more sense as Ten Hag would have still had a holder in Amrabat.
Neville also felt that Ten Hag forced McTominay to play a far-from-ideal role – one that Neville feels Ten Hag has ‘rejected’ in the past.
The former United ace feels that McTominay is so much better going forward and the change immediately handed City their second goal.
“It was a strange substitution at half-time, for a couple of reasons,” said Neville. “One, that if you want to be more defensive, then you keep Amrabat on there and you take Eriksen off, and the other thing is that now you’ve got McTominay playing somewhere where he has to try and get on the ball and play out, which obviously Erik ten Hag has rejected previously and he’s been doing so well going forward.”
“The goal has come directly from the area where they were trying to stop [City], it’s just not worked out at all that substitution for Ten Hag and United. What you’ve now got is Eriksen sat in midfield on his own because McTominay is still trying to go forward.”
“There’s an example of it – you’ve now put him into a position where he’s got to be cute on the ball, on the half turn and that’s been rejected already. You’re better off getting him forward, he’s more of a threat than Mount,” he added after McTominay gave the ball away inside his own half on 53 minutes.
Manchester United second-half performance was a nightmare
United at least made life difficult for City in the first half but really struggled after the break.
City were always likely to dominate the midfield battle but they found it far too easy to cut through United in the second half.
Ten Hag’s change really didn’t help United gain control and we have surely seen enough of McTominay in that kind of role to know that it doesn’t really work.
Ten Hag will no doubt feel that Casemiro could have made a big impact in midfield but his half-time decision seemed to only make United worse.
United fans aren’t seeing a clear philosophy on the pitch right now and that substitution only added to a nightmare second-half showing which leaves Ten Hag under increasing pressure.
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