Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag showed his quick-thinking ability to adapt after his tactical instruction during the 3-0 win against Southampton on Saturday.
The Red Devils travelled to the St Mary’s on the weekend for their first Premier League fixture since the end of the September international break.
Erik ten Hag was already under pressure to pick up a result against Southampton after Manchester United’s mixed start to the Premier League campaign.
United defeated Fulham 1-0 at Old Trafford in August before suffering a 2-1 defeat to Brighton at the Amex and a 3-0 loss to Liverpool at the Theatre of Dreams.
The Red Devils earned all three points against Southampton after overcoming a tricky start to the Premier League encounter at the St Mary’s.
The Saints were denied a first-half lead after Cameron Archer saw his penalty superbly saved by United No 1 Andre Onana.
The momentum quickly shifted in United’s favour after Matthijs de Ligt’s towering header fired the Red Devils into the lead at the St Mary’s.
Marcus Rashford doubled United’s advantage only six minutes after Matthijs de Ligt’s opener to put the Red Devils 2-0 up before half-time.
Alejandro Garnacho then came off the bench in the second half and slammed home United’s third in injury time to ensure Ten Hag’s men returned to winning ways.
Ten Hag’s Man Utd decision
Erik ten Hag raised eyebrows ahead of the Southampton match after Christian Eriksen received a rare start for Manchester United in midfield.
Casemiro dropped to the bench after his disastrous performance against Liverpool, while summer signing Manuel Ugarte settled for a place on the bench.
Christian Eriksen started alongside Kobbie Mainoo in the heart of midfield and the two United stars had a shaky start in the first half at the St Mary’s.
Kyle Walker-Peters was able to take advantage of the vulnerable midfield roughly 20 minutes into the match before making his way into the United box.
The 27-year-old Southampton full-back’s efforts were left in vain after a poor final ball, but Ten Hag instantly reacted to United’s midfield display in the build-up.
Joe Cole, who was providing pitchside commentary for TNT Sports, spotlighted that Ten Hag immediately pulled Kobbie Mainoo and Eriksen to one side.
“He’s bounced straight up, and he’s got hold of Eriksen and Mainoo,” he said, as per Stretty News.
“It looked like he was saying, ‘Get a bit tighter together,’ you know, because I think there’s still a bit of space in between them that Southampton are capitalising in midfield.”
Ten Hag welcomes Man Utd result
United have climbed to 10th place in the Premier League table after their well-deserved win over Southampton.
The Red Devils will now begin their Carabao Cup campaign on Wednesday evening when they host Barnsley at Old Trafford, with kick-off slated for 8pm UK time.
Speaking after the Southampton match, Ten Hag admitted that United had a “tough” and “hard” 20 minutes at the St Mary’s.
“First 20 minutes was hard, tough, but that is often [the case] in games, you have to get a foothold in the game,” he told MUTV, as per Manchester United’s official website.
“Once Andre stopped the penalty, straight after, we scored a goal with Matthijs de Ligt, the game was all ours and we [dominated] the game from that point.”
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