After twice taking the lead against Galatasaray in the Champions League, Manchester United fell 3-2. What went wrong? Well, the game was decided by individual errors from Manchester United as well as the defense not playing as a cohesive unit.
The team also completely lost focus, allowing equalizers to be scored twice within minutes after gaining the lead.
Erik ten Hag, the manager, too made a mistake. Here are three choices he made that were poor choices.
Changing Eriksen for Hannibal
At halftime, Erik ten Hag replaced Hannibal Mejbri with Christian Eriksen. He indicated he wanted to make this transfer because of the Dane’s passing ability when explaining his choice
Even if Eriksen was a good ball player, Hannibal is so much better without it.
Hannibal’s persistent sprinting and energy would undoubtedly have a greater effect in the second half when players start to tire?
Hannibal was required by United to wear down Galatasaray. During his time on the field, Eriksen was unable to win a single duel, while Hannibal did it five times.
Continuing to support Victor Lindelof
As a result of Victor Lindelof’s bad performance against Crystal Palace, there was a strong argument to replace him with Harry Maguire or Jonny Evans.
Lindelof struggled against Galatasaray and was unable to win any tackles. He would be more useful at full-back right now.
Continuing at left back is Sofyan Amrabat
Okay, so against Crystal Palace’s reserves, Sofyan Amrabat successfully stepped in as the left defender. It is a different story when playing in the Champions League.
United ought to have utilized a defensively focused center back who would have been more suited to the back four at left back.
After Amrabat played Mauro Icardi onside and failed to push up with the rest of his new teammates, Galatasaray scored the winning goal.
To blame him for it would be unfair. Despite noticing his weakness in that position during the weekend, his manager chose him to play out of position.
Casemiro’s dismissal had no effect on the strategy.
The game was lost by Manchester United at this crucial point, which was the big one.
There was a large vacuum in the Manchester United midfield following Casemiro’s dismissal. Mason Mount and Christian Eriksen were left to hold down the fort for United. Naturally, minutes later Galatasaray scored.
Ten Hag ought to have taken action. He had the option of introducing Scott McTominay. Or he might have moved Amrabat to midfield and substituted a defender for the left-back position.
Ten Hag’s inaction was penalized by a spirited Galatasaray because doing nothing at all was a formula for disaster.
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