Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has questioned Erik ten Hag’s decision to substitute Jadon Sancho with Fred during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It would be fair to say Ten Hag’s side dominated the early stages of the match, but failed to take advantage of controlling the game, with both Marcus Rashford and Antony wasting opportunities on goal in the first half.
This led to a 35th minute substitution from Potter.
The Chelsea manager replaced Marc Cucurella with Mateo Kovacic which helped the Blues claw their way back into the game.
Both managers made substitutions in the second half that saw attacking players brought off and replaced by central midfielders. Neither was willing to go for the throat to take all three points.
Discussing the game on Premier League Productions, Scholes said (via Daily Mail): “Today they were good for half a game they were really good and probably deserved to win the game,’ ‘You think of Chelsea being at home, did they do enough to win the game I really don’t think they did.
“The subs were a little bit strange today. I thought Fred coming on when he did for Sancho didn’t really help the game. I thought Fernandes lost a bit of control of the game he had to come out to the left-hand side and wasn’t in the game as much.”
Scholes believes that Ten Hag needs to become more brave if he wants United to compete at the top of the Premier League. He added: “I think there’s progress going to a big team and getting a point is progress. You’d like to win those games still, of course you would but really looking back on the game they should have won it.
“There will be bigger tests ahead, going to Anfield going to Arsenal, going to these better teams. It’s now a big test for them to take that next level.
“I think they’ve sorted out problems at home those first two games were disastrous as we know, but they’ve sorted the problems out at home, they look dominant it’s that away form which I think that manager wants them to be.”
Stretty News verdict – Ronaldo was missing
I’m not sure who Scholes expected to come off the bench to replace Sancho, but maybe he raises a valid point that it should have been a more attack-minded player than Fred.
The problem is we didn’t have many options, with Cristiano Ronaldo axed from the squad at the weekend.
Let us know in the comments section if you agree with Scholes and think Ten Hag could have got more from the game?
