Jamie Carragher brutally dismisses Erik ten Hag’s claim on Man Utd team changes

Fans and analysts have questioned Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag’s decision to sit Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Jamie Carragher feels that Erik ten Hag omitted Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez for Sunday’s game against Aston Villa.

The Sky Sports analyst delivered his assessment in the first few minutes of the game, despite the Manchester United manager’s insistence that the two, who both struggled in the midweek stalemate with FC Porto, were not chosen due to “rotation”.

Ten Hag was questioned prior to the match about De Ligt’s absence, considering that he only joined the club from Bayern Munich during the summer transfer window in August. He said, “It’s just rotation.” We have so many games to cover, so we need to bring them all in.

Carragher, on the other hand, was having none of it, retorting: “You don’t rotate center-backs. “They’ve been dropped.”

Rio Ferdinand also appeared to dispute Ten Hag’s argument, which he used in midweek when Marcus Rashford was controversially replaced at halftime against FC Porto despite a number of threatening surges forward.

Before kickoff, the former Manchester United defender wrote cryptically on his X account: “Rotation.”

Ten Hag has faced more pressure in recent weeks as a result of United’s dismal start to the season. Prior to Sunday, they had won only three of their first nine matches in all competitions, increasing the pressure on the Dutchman.

It’s been claimed that a terrible performance against Aston Villa may terminate his two-year career, a speculation that has only gained pace after it was revealed that Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be present at Villa Park.

When questioned by BBC Sport if he believed in Ten Hag, the Ineos executive declined to openly support him.

He responded, “I don’t want to answer that question…I like Erik. I believe he is an excellent coach, but at the end of the day, it is up to Manchester United’s management team to determine how to effectively run the squad in a variety of ways.

“But the team that is running Manchester United has only been together since June or July.” [CEO] Omar [Berrada] and [Sporting Director] Dan Ashworth were not there in January, February, March, or April; they came in July.

“They have only been there…”You can count it in weeks nearly; they haven’t been there long, so they need to take stock and make some smart judgments. Our goal is pretty clear: we want to get Manchester United back to where it should be, and it isn’t there yet.