Erik Ten Hag is already thinking of dropping Manchester United’s captain, Harry Maguire, against Liverpool on Monday as he looks forward to winning his first match of the season.
The defender completed 90 minutes against Brighton and Brentford, but his chances of playing the next match have been reduced after a lackluster performance in both games.
Maguire and Lisandro Martinez started in the centre of Manchester United’s defence and conceded four goals within the space of 35 minutes. Erik Ten Hag is more likely to pair Varane and Martinez against Liverpool.
Gary Neville also offered a piece of advice to the manager if he wants to continue using Martinez, saying the defender should only start when the manager plans to use a back 3.
Liverpool thrashed Manchester United last season on an aggregate of 9-0. However, the Red Devils managed to get their revenge in the pre-season against a weaker Liverpool side.
Harry Maguire has been criticized by both Manchester United fans and players. Many believe he doesn’t possess a leadership quality which brought about disruption in the dressing room.
Erik Ten Hag was not bothered about those criticisms and he went ahead to give him the armband ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and David De Gea.
Erik Ten Hag had mentioned that Maguire and Martinez would be his first choice in defense. Manchester United against Liverpool is surely a different ballgame as the club is in a must-win situation.
Erik Ten Hag needs to approach the game with a different tactic and their main target is to stop Salah from hitting the ball in his best position.
Manchester United has conceded 6 goals this season and scored only 1. A win against Liverpool will move Manchester United away from the relegation zone.
New players are not expected to join the club. United will continue with the same set of players.
Malacia has been tipped to start ahead of Luke Shaw. Van De Beek will be given a chance to play with Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes in the midfield. Martial is back in training and might get his first match of the season against Liverpool.
On the other hand, Liverpool’s form has been worrisome and they have lost the majority of their players to injury, but they understand how to exploit Manchester United’s weaknesses.
Darwin Nunez is already out of the game, but Firmino is the best option against Manchester United’s defense.
Erik Ten Hag’s ideas of restoring Manchester United to its glory days have been rubbished by the Manchester United board, who failed to sign better players for him this summer.
They bowed out of a deal with Rabiot due to salaries demand and the pursuit of De Jong for over three months is looking like a total failure.
