Erik ten Hag made a number of changes to his starting XI for the Premier League match away at Aston Villa, including starts for Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans at centre-back
Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand made his feelings clear on Erik ten Hag’s defensive switches for the draw with Aston Villa on Sunday.
United started with Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez on Thursday night against Porto, but the pair struggled in a 3-3 draw at the Dragao. Both were withdrawn 11 minutes from time in that game, with Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans coming on, and Ten Hag picked Maguire and Evans to start at Villa Park.
“Rotation,” Ten Hag began when asked by Sky Sports about the double change. “We have so many games to cover, so we have to bring them all in, then of course you look at the opponent, what is needed for this game… and then you make a choice.”
Ferdinand didn’t seem convinced, though. In a social media post shortly after Ten Hag’s interview, Ferdinand simply wrote “Rotation,” adding the quote marks himself, in what some have considered a dig at the manager.
A number of fans questioned Ten Hag in the replies to Ferdinand’s comment. “Ineos need to rotate the manager,” wrote one, with several others using words to the same effect.
“Centre backs don’t need much rotation. Something else going on here,” wrote another. That was a view shared by Jamie Carragher, who was on commentary duty for Sky Sports at Villa Park
“You don’t rotate centre-backs. They’ve been dropped,” Carragher said. De Ligt wasn’t out of the firing line for too long, though, with a first-half injury to Maguire forcing the Dutchman into action.
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While United have struggled in front of goal this season, they have been more solid defensively. Ten Hag’s team have conceded just eight times in their seven games – the same number as second-place Manchester City, and the former Ajax boss was pleased with that aspect of his team’s display.
“I think the performance of United was very good,” he told Match of the Day. “Defending and in possession we controlled the game. It was in the balance. We created chances but not loads. Also Villa didn’t create too many chances. It was balanced. We hit the crossbar, they had a shot blocked.”
That late chance was snuffed out as Diogo Dalot got in the way of Jaden Philogene’s effort. However, co-commentator Carragher used the opportunity to call out De Ligt for allowing the hosts to get that close.
“It looked like it was going to be a certain goal!” Carragher said. “I don’t know what De Ligt is doing. [Diogo] Dalot turns his back and gets a little bit of luck.”
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