Erik ten Hag suggested Man Utd captain Harry Maguire lacks the “mobility and agility” to play in his back four after dropping him against Liverpool.
The Red Devils have been terrible so far this season with Ten Hag losing both his opening Premier League matches as Man Utd boss.
Their defeat to Brighton was bad enough on the opening weekend but alarm bells were ringing after an embarrasing 4-0 humiliation by Brentford in London.
Man Utd offer an Antony swap deal and Rooney wants to ditch Maguire as nonsense escalates
Maguire has been under pressure from the supporters and pundits for the last year or so following a number of poor performances and Ten Hag dropped him for today’s match against Liverpool.
Fred, Luke Shaw and Cristiano Ronaldo were also dropped and Ten Hag explained the reasoning behind his changes.
Speaking to reporters after Casemiro was announced, Ten Hag said: “Casemiro is the cement between the stones – it’s what we’ve been looking for in the summer, we’ve found him and I am really happy.
“You look at the approach to this game, we have a squad, a lot of games to cover, and we thought for this game it was best to make these changes. It doesn’t mean anything for the future.
“Varane is a really experienced player, he’s won everything in his career and will bring the communication in the back four, but that’s also what Harry does.
“We want mobility and agility in the back four, so that’s also why we have decided to play with the other three.”
On Ronaldo’s absence from the starting XI, Ten Hag added: “Liverpool are a great team in and out of possession, you need to press them, and you have to do that out of a block, so you need a lot of energy.
“In transition you can beat them, so that’s why we’ve signed with Rashford, Elanga and Sancho up front.”
And former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher reckons being “out of the firing line” could do Man Utd captain Maguire some good.
Carragher told Sky Sports: “I think Maguire and Ronaldo will be really disappointed.
“I think in some ways for Maguire it is something he needs just to get out of the firing line, I think some of the criticism has been well over the top.
“With Ronaldo, the manager has got an opportunity now because there are a couple of players back to say ‘I want you on the bench’.
“If I’m being honest, I don’t think the manager wants Ronaldo around the place, he had to play him at Brentford but as soon as he has got…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…