Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has slammed Tyrell Malacia’s performance in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham and admitted the defence is ‘vulnerable’ without their key man at the back. Erik ten Hag is without first-choice centre-halves Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez for the season run-in although the Frenchman could return in time for the FA Cup final against Manchester City on 3 June. Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof were paired at the heart of defence in the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton on Sunday, resuming that partnership in north London on Thursday evening. United led 2-0 at the break through goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford but Spurs rescued a point with Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min on the score sheet in the second-half. Ten Hag made four changes in 10 minutes, in the 61st and 71st minutes, with Malacia among them, coming onto replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The Dutchman was at fault for Tottenham’s equaliser, letting Harry Kane slip inside him to tee up Son with former United goalkeeper Schmeichel insisting the full-back allowed the Tottenham star to ‘run straight past him’. The Dane also shared his concerns over the Shaw and Lindelof partnership, fearing the duo are not a natural fit at centre-half.
Schmeichel told Premier League Productions: ‘With Varane and Martinez out, defensively we are a bit vulnerable. Assessing the first goal, he continued: ‘First of all, there is no pressure on the cross, they should stop the cross at birth really, and then nobody follows in. ‘Lindelof is half a centre-half, half a full-back and Luke Shaw is a full-back and they are drawn towards the ball, they are not drawn to marking spaces or players. And that second goal, I don’t know what Malacia is doing. The ball runs straight past him and he just looks at it. You have just come on, you have to make some sort of impact, you have a job to do. I’m not sure why he [ten Hag] took Wan-Bissaka off because he was really good today. We’re 2-1 up, you don’t change it, it is not that bad where you take your best defender off.’
Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has criticised Tyrell Malacia’s performance in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham and expressed his concern over the defence being ‘vulnerable’ without their key man at the back. Erik ten Hag is without first-choice centre-halves Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez for the season run-in although the Frenchman could return in time for the FA Cup final against Manchester City on 3 June. Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof were paired at the heart of defence in the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton on Sunday, resuming that partnership in north London on Thursday evening. United led 2-0 at the break through goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford but Spurs rescued a point with Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min on the score sheet in the second-half. Ten Hag made four changes in 10 minutes, in the 61st and 71st minutes, with Malacia among them, coming onto replace Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The Dutchman was at fault for Tottenham’s equaliser, letting Harry Kane slip inside him to tee up Son with former United goalkeeper Schmeichel insisting the full-back allowed the Tottenham star to ‘run straight past him’. The Dane also shared his concerns over the Shaw and Lindelof partnership, fearing the duo are not a natural fit at centre-half.
Schmeichel told Premier League Productions: ‘With Varane and Martinez out, defensively we are a bit vulnerable. Assessing the first goal, he continued: ‘First of all, there is no pressure on the cross, they should stop the cross at birth really, and then nobody follows in. ‘Lindelof is half a centre-half, half a full-back and Luke Shaw is a full-back and they are drawn towards the ball, they are not drawn to marking spaces or players. And that second goal, I don’t know what Malacia is doing. The ball runs straight past him and he just looks at it. You have just come on, you have to make some sort of impact, you have a job to do. I’m not sure why he [ten Hag] took Wan-Bissaka off because he was really good today. We’re 2-1 up, you don’t change it, it is not that bad where you take your best defender off.’ Schmeichel concluded by expressing his worries