Erik ten Hag is making his maiden appearance in the FA Cup this evening as his Manchester United side face Everton at Old Trafford in the third round.
The Dutchman raised a few eyebrows when the teams were released earlier this evening, with many of the first-team regulars retaining their place from the 3-0 win over Bournemouth three days ago.
Ten Hag’s reluctance to rotate his squad for cup games has been a recurring theme this season but with the schedule busier than ever, the expectation was that he would rest some key players ahead of crucial Premier League games against Manchester City and Arsenal.
That was not the case, however, with Ten Hag naming a full-strength team for the visit of Frank Lampard’s side. Speaking ahead of the game, the United boss explained why, reminding supporters that he takes every competition seriously.
“We take every game and every competition seriously and also this one, definitely this one, I would say,” Ten Hag told the official Manchester United website.
Luke Shaw starred at left-back in the win over Bournemouth but for the two previous games, with Lisandro Martinez unavailable due to his involvement in the World Cup, the Englishman had impressed at centre-back.
Curiously, Ten Hag decided to use Shaw at centre-back once more, with Martinez, Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire all watching from the bench.
“It’s also a tactical choice again but he constructed very good, centre-back position with Rapha (Varane) and also, Tyrell Malacia played really strong so I want to keep that,” Ten Hag said on the decision.
SN’s verdict…
Ten Hag will need to utilise his squad wisely in the next couple of weeks in order to avoid an injury crisis – there are a couple of areas United cannot afford to lose players in.
Shaw’s newly-discovered ability to cover centrally means that United are now able to experiment more but further up the pitch, midfield in particular, it’s surprising to see Casemiro and Christian Eriksen start.
