Club News: Paul Scholes questions Erik ten Hag’s ‘strange’ substitution against Chelsea
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has questioned Erik ten Hag’s ‘strange’ substitution during his former side’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea last night.
The Red Devils were dominant in the first half and Marcus Rashford and Antony came close to giving us the lead. The Blues ultimately took the lead through a Jorginho penalty and the Reds were looking at a defeat.
However, summer signing Casemiro came to the rescue as his header from a Luke Shaw cross in injury time secured a point for the Red Devils at Stamford Bridge.
Ten Hag decided to take off Jadon Sancho and bought on Fred in the 52nd minute. Scholes believes this change had a negative effect on the team, especially restricting Bruno Fernandes’ role in the team.
Speaking on Premier League Productions (h/t Daily Mail), the former Reds midfielder gave his opinion:
“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.”
Both Fred and Fernandes have operated on the wings for United during the course of this season. Sancho was below par and was not threatening at all against the west London club. Taking him off to give another player some minutes seemed like a logical thing to do.
This draw sees United sit fifth on the table with 20 points, one behind the Blues who sit fourth. Ten Hag has now six games without a defeat in all competitions, winning four in the process.
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Focus now shifts to the Europa League. The Red Devils will play host to Sheriff this Thursday. A point against them will secure the club’s qualification for the next round.
