Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves both agreed on an issue that has impacted Erik ten Hag “all season” after Manchester United’s costly draw against Galatasaray.
United missed out on a crucial three points during their trip to Istanbul on Wednesday evening, despite leading Galatasaray 2-0 in the opening 20 minutes.
Alejandro Garnacho, who scored a sensational overhead kick against Everton last weekend, fired United into the lead in the Champions League tie with a fine finish.
Bruno Fernandes doubled United’s lead in the 18th minute with a stunning long-range strike, but Hakim Ziyech pulled one back for Galatasaray before half-time.
Scott McTominay added United’s third after the break before Ziyech completed his brace for Galatasaray seven minutes later thanks to an Andre Onana howler.
Muhammed Kerem Akturkoglu then secured the all-important equaliser for Galatasaray in the 71st minute after beating United No star Onana at his near post.
United are currently bottom of Group A in the Champions League, with third-place Galatasaray and second-place FC Copenhagen one point ahead of Ten Hag’s men.
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Hargreaves on Ten Hag’s United issue
Following the costly draw in Turkey, former United midfielder Hargreaves appeared in the TNT Sports studio alongside Scholes to discuss the Champions League result.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand, Hargreaves spotlighted the lack of balance that the Red Devils have had in midfield and how it has caused serious problems for Ten Hag.
“Rio, I think the balance in midfield has been an issue all season. I know Scholsey makes a point about [Victor] Lindelof and [Harry] Maguire because they’re captains of their [respective] country, but I think that today was the balance of the midfield,” he said on TNT Sports.
“There’s no protection in there. Rio, if I was doing that, you would have moaned at me all game. You would have said, ‘Owen, where [are] you going, why you running up there, why you in the box, why you shooting? We’re 2-0 up.’
“I think the midfield balance has been an issue all season and that’s something they’ve got to fix.
“I know the centre-backs, you talked about their experience, but I just feel the midfield has been an issue all season, Scholsey.”
Scholes echoes Hargreaves’ concerns at United
Ten Hag opted to start Fiorentina loanee Sofyan Amrabat alongside McTominay for the Galatasaray clash, with United captain Fernandes deployed in an attacking role.
The United boss pulled Amrabat early in the second half and replaced him with Kobbie Mainoo, who impressed on his Premier League debut against Everton.
Mainoo once again wowed fans with his second-half performance against Galatasaray, with Scholes believing that he could be the key to Ten Hag’s problems.
Responding to Hargreaves, Scholes said: “Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. It has been. He can’t seem to get it right.
“I think [that] ideally he’s a very attacking manager and he would like to just play one holding midfield player and the rest of them go forward, which is what he did at Ajax.
“But that one player they have in there, Amrabat, Mainoo possibly might be good enough at doing that, controlling games of football. We’ve seen glimpses of it again tonight when he came on.
“He came on at a very difficult time tonight. But he looks a man who could control games of football to me. I’m not sure Casemiro’s that type unless he’s got the right players around him, so I think Owen’s right about getting the balance of the team.
“It’s been a big problem for him. Can he play the one? Can he play the two? He’s struggled either way to really find a way of winning games and being dominant in games.”
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