When Manchester United take on West Ham United at the London Stadium today, the need for three points will be primary as the team sits 12th on the table.
However, that’s not all that will be looked at with intense scrutiny in that game. Of course, Erik ten Hag and his future at Old Trafford are a running topic.
A draw at Fenerbahce punctured a potential winning run again and United have lost their last two meetings at the London Stadium as well.
Julen Lopetegui’s arrival has changed things somewhat which is why West Ham vs Man Utd prediction is an unexpectedly positive one.
However, Ten Hag has caused a scenario where even if United win, the biggest story might well be one player in the Man Utd squad and what, if any involvement he has on the day.
Erik ten Hag’s sticky situation with Amad
When the board went up near the 86th-minute mark and Amad came on vs Fenerbahce, he wasn’t trying to hide his disappointment in the slightest.
Not only had he not started despite Ten Hag going on about rotation, but a full-back had also started as the No. 10 and when it was time for subs, Antony was ahead of him.
Ten Hag’s baffling treatment of Amad was indefensible anyway, but it was like the footballing gods wanted to punish him too.
Antony was injured after coming on, and had to be stretchered off, and Amad immediately created a dangerous situation after his subbing and got an opponent booked.
This is a player who, at the start of the season, was saying he could stay his entire career at Old Trafford, so good he was then.
He hasn’t been bad after that either, it’s just that Ten Hag has used his ‘rotation’ reason very liberally to explain away all his questionable selection choices.
A situation entirely of Ten Hag’s making
Be it Rashford coming off at half-time vs FC Porto despite playing well, or Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire starting in place of Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez vs Aston Villa, the Dutchman has hidden behind ‘rotation’ far too often with stark inconsistency.
That call vs Fenerbahce regarding Amad seems to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back because it went a bit too far.
Sure, this time, Ten Hag said he did it to reward Antony’s training performances but do training performances matter more than actual contribution during the game?
Amad spent the majority of last year behind Antony as he was given chance after chance and this season, when it looked like he had finally gotten over that hump, Ten Hag made it clear without saying that Amad had effectively forced him into a decision he didn’t really want to make.
All eyes will be on this dynamic throughout the game. Starting Amad would quieten a lot of noise and that would be justifiable too, with this game coming less than 48 hours after a Turkey trip.
However, if he doesn’t, then expect one camera to be fixed on the Ivorian if and when he comes on. Ten Hag has invited needless scrutiny on himself when he’s already no good in terms of results.
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