“Nothing from Ten Hag” – Man Utd player headed down the tunnel after being subbed off

By BF Staff | May 21, 2023
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag against Arsenal.

Manchester United won all three points against Bournemouth but were far from impressive REUTERS/David Klein.

Manchester United moved a step closer to Champions League football with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth, as Casemiro and David de Gea impressed at the opposite ends. But not every Red Devil had a good outing on the south coast on Saturday afternoon.

Casemiro’s acrobatic finish gave United an early lead, but United forwards yet again produced a lackluster display and showed little urgency to double the lead. The visitors had to once more depend on their backline to muster all three points and extend the gap on fifth-place Liverpool, who drew against Aston Villa.

The Brazilian midfielder as well as Victor Lindelof was impressive at the back and helped David de Gea keep his 17th clean sheet of the Premier League season. The Spaniard, who made a brilliant save to deny Dango Ouattara a late equaliser, became the outright winner of the 2022/23 Golden Glove.

In his post-match interview, Erik ten Hag acknowledged his side’s struggles going forward. He said (via BBC): “The only criticism is we didn’t kill off the game, we had to produce that second goal but that’s the way this team are. It is not easy scoring goals.”

The Dutch coach’s substitution minutes before the hour mark pointed towards the same issue. He hooked off Anthony Martial for Wout Weghorst in the 58th minute, as the Frenchman didn’t do much to trouble Bournemouth’s defence. Weghorst failed to score as well, but United seemed much better with him on the pitch.

However, Martial didn’t appear too pleased with Ten Hag’s decision. He shook his head in seeming disbelief and went straight down the tunnel without any interaction with his manager.

Martial was also subbed off for Weghorst pretty early against Wolves last weekend despite his opening goal. To be fair to Ten Hag, the forward hasn’t been at his best ever since his return from injury. It won’t surprise many if the United boss, akin to his recent substitution decisions, decides in the summer he’d seen enough of the 27-year-old.