Erik ten Hag shows ruthless side with decision on six Man Utd stars worth combined £330m

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag headed into Sunday’s crunch match with Aston Villa needing a result – but he opted to bench a number of players signed under his watch

Erik ten Hag snubbed a cluster of expensive players HE signed for Manchester United’s drab goalless draw with Aston Villa.

The Dutchman was under fierce scrutiny heading into Sunday’s match after overseeing a poor start to the season. And there was even speculation that defeat at Villa Park could see Ten Hag sacked by United’s top brass, who were all in attendance.

With a lot on the line, Ten Hag’s team selection raised eyebrows as he left a host of big-name players out for the 0-0 stalemate – including summer signings Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte.

Antony, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Joshua Zirkzee all joined the duo on the bench, meaning over £330million’s worth of talent started the afternoon with a watching brief.

While the players in question, who were all signed by Ten Hag, were not selected to start the match, the majority did come on. De Ligt came on at half-time to replace the injured Harry Maguire, while Zirkzee, Casemiro and Antony were all second half substitutes.

Ten Hag’s team selection certainly raised eyebrows pre-match was also questioned by Gary Neville, who felt the XI reflected that of a manager struggling towards the end of his tenure.

“I actually at one point thought Gary and Phil Neville might be full-backs!” the Red Devils icon quipped on Sky Sports.

Join the debate! What did you make of Man Utd’s performance against Villa? Let us know here.

“I must admit, if you think about the fact that Manchester United have six centre-backs, if you just said to me five or six weeks ago that you’d end up with Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire… at centre-back six or seven games in, I’d have said there must be four injuries to the others.”

He continued: “Just optically, looking at it from the point of view of the plan, the plan was this season for Erik ten Hag to establish his style of play and shift the team up the pitch: make them more aggressive, make them more in the style of what he wanted to implement. United now are going to be camped on the edge of their box with Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans. This is not the plan.

“So for me it feels a little bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water. A little bit like when a manager is struggling at the end of his tenure, when basically they throw the young players in, and it’s like ‘I’m going to pick the players who I like and the ones that I can trust’ – it feels a little bit like that today.”

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