Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand have questioned Erik ten Hag’s substitution decisions after Manchester United threw away a two-goal lead against Tottenham. Jadon Sancho had scored after seven minutes with Marcus Rashford doubling the lead just before half-time as United took control of Thursday’s clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pedro Porro and Son Heung-min scored in the second-half however as Spurs fought back to rescue a well-earned draw. After 120 minutes against Brighton in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday, ten Hag made changes on the hour with Christian Eriksen, who was superb in the first-half, replaced by Fred. Fred endured a woeful evening after coming on with Anthony Martial, who also came on after an hour to replace Sancho, failing to impose himself. Ten Hag made two further changes with Tyrell Malacia and Wout Weghorst replacing Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Antony, with the full-back at fault for Tottenham’s equaliser.
Eriksen in particular had been enjoying a fine game back at his old club before being replaced with Ferdinand believing ten Hag’s changes led to them losing control of the contest. ‘United will be disappointed, they will all be trudging into that changing room thinking how did we let that slip,’ Ferdinand told BT Sport. ‘The first half they totally dominated this Spurs team, a team struggling for confidence and you’ve allowed them back in the game. They will be hugely disappointed. I think the substitutions from United saw them relinquish control of the game with the personnel that came on.’
Hargreaves was also not convinced by the changes, suggesting it has been a worrying pattern that has developed in recent weeks. ‘He [ten Hag] felt he needed to make some subs obviously after the game against Brighton on Sunday, the players were tired and he felt he needed to make changes,’ he said. ‘I think up until about six weeks ago he probably got every sub right. At Anfield he had a couple of moments that didn’t go his way, at home against Sevilla, a couple of subs that didn’t go his way, and obviously today. That’s the one thing they need to address is the depth and obviously they will try to do that in the summer.’