Owen Hargreaves defends two Man Utd players who have received criticism during derby defeat

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Owen Hargreaves has defended two Manchester United players who struggled in the 3-0 Manchester derby defeat at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United were truly outclassed during the second half and that led to frustration amongst the team and rightly so.

Antony, who started the game against Pep Guardiola’s side from the bench, came on with their fate already sealed and he cut a frustrated figure on and off the pitch.

This culminated in the former Ajax winger, who joined the Old Trafford club for £86 million last summer, hacking down Jeremy Doku near the corner flag and lashing out against the Belgian.

Hargreaves defence

In response to Ian Wright’s claims that the Brazilian was following Bruno Fernandes’ lead in kicking out, the Owen Hargreaves was keen to defend the Brazilian.

“I know he [Antony] looks moody but I think he tried to kick out [at Doku] to show the fans he cares but it doesn’t come across in the right way and it frustrates a lot of people,” Hargreaves said to the Manchester Evening News.

The ex-United midfielder, who was also once of Bayern Munich, also gave his thoughts on Fernandes being the captain of the club after there were calls from Roy Keane to strip him of it.

“[Ten Hag] gave it [the captaincy] to Bruno because he’s their most consistent player by a long shot but [Ten Hag] played him out of position. Play him as a No.10 and drop another player. I think his frustration came a lot from not having any influence on the game.”

United need to stick by Fernandes

If there is any man who deserves time to turn his poor form around it is Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese midfielder has been the best signing of the last decade for the Red Devils.

He has proven time and time again that he can be relied upon during United’s hour, or in the club’s case years, of need.

He needs to be backed in his favoured position and once the forwards start firing again, it will only be a matter of time before he is back to his best.