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Manchester United legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has questioned ten Hag’s substitute decisions in Sunday’s 3-1 Manchester derby loss.
He was especially critical of the removal of goalscorer Marcus Rashford for Antony.
Talking to talkSPORT, the former United man slammed ten Hag for his questionable substitutions, while addressing his super cautious approach in the match.
“When you need to change the game at the moment they’ve equalized, they’ve scored again, the substitutions that you make… you take all your pace off, you take your driving force in midfield off, you take your best defender off. I don’t get that.” Peter pointed out.
“Are they being rested for the next game?
“I really, really don’t get the substitutions.
“When you look at what Pep’s doing, Pep is only substituting two players. Generally, he doesn’t substitute a lot.
“Yesterday, those substitutions, from that moment on, I just don’t get it.”
This was particularly in reference to ten Hag taking out Rashford, Mainoo and Evans.
Rashford’s pace was absolutely important in a game like that on the counter and is he capable of holding up and sustaining attacks by himself unlike his replacement Antony.
He had already proved his worth with a magnificent top corner strike, putting United up 1-0 in the 8th minute.
Taking him out eliminated all potency upfront as Antony is not as direct as Rashford who always runs at his defender.
Erik ten Hag also took off young Kobbie Mainoo who was perhaps our best midfielder.
Under pressure and in tight spaces, his composure and elegance is unbelievable for an 18-year-old.
The possession stats were 72/28 in favour of the blue side of Manchester and the little possession we had, Mainoo’s player profile is best for retaining possession.
The other substitution that did not make much sense was the Jonny Evans substitution.
His composure and experience in that backline had kept City at bay for the better part of the match.
He was replaced by young Willy Kambwala as ten Hag does not have another first team defender available.
In the manager’s defence, he did explain that Evans was not at 100% and was not in the right condition to complete 90 minutes.
