The Dutchman was far from happy with the goal his side conceded (Picture: Getty)
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has bemoaned his side’s defending for Fulham’s equaliser in Sunday’s 2-1 win while he defended his decision to sub on Scott McTominay despite the change appearing overly cautious.
The Red Devils went ahead in the first half through Christian Eriksen at Craven Cottage but were pegged back by a goal from former player Dan James, before teenager Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to secure all three points in stoppage time.
As has become something of a pattern, Ten Hag withdrew winger Anthony Elanga in favour of the more defence-conscious McTominay shortly before the hour-mark – though just six minutes later Fulham netted their equaliser.
Bruno Fernandes, who was moved to the right wing, gave away possession while Tyrell Malacia – filling in at right-back for the suspended Diogo Dalot – was stranded high up the pitch, giving Fulham acres of room to attack into.
Ten Hag’s tendency to swap an attacker for a more defensive player has been criticised by fans for handing the initiative to the opposition and it certainly appeared to backfire against Fulham, but he defended the change afterwards and feels McTominay brought more power in midfield as well as an attacking threat.
Asked for his thought process on why he once again remove an attacking player for a more defensive one, Ten Hag said: ‘First of all, we started Elanga because we thought we needed speed in the frontline because we thought that was a weakness from Fulham.
‘I think he’s doing well, he did well in the game, but there are also some aspects we have to work on with him, particularly his anticipation and his proactiveness. I think he’s made huge progress in that but if he wants to be the top player, then it has to come on even more.
‘I’m happy with his performance, and also I know the Fulham full-back is really into attacking and Elanga controlled that, he neutralised that attacking full-back, so he did well.
United were on the back foot after McTominay’s introduction (Picture: Getty)
‘But I saw the game changing a little bit, and I wanted to bring more power in the midfield, and I have seen on the Thursday with Scott that he’s a ball-winning type, he’s a power type, he can also make runs in front.
‘I think he had one or two good chances when he entered into the box, so that was my first idea.
‘And the second idea was to bring on Garnacho. The right full-back was a booking for them, in the last weeks he’s had impact with his pace and dribbles, and I think the outcome was good.’
Ten Hag felt Fulham’s equaliser was a massive gift from his side – with United’s right flank caught high up the pitch giving Tom Cairney the freedom of west London to pick out James – and says it was a mistake they need to learn from.
Speaking to MUTV, he said: ‘You have to finish the game and we didn’t and then they came back, and you see games can change in small moments and that happened tonight.
‘It was a mistake that we made. It cannot be that the right side is that open, but the good thing is that we showed we had the resilience and the spirit to get the win.’
He added: ‘I think that we have made massive progress on many elements of football, but if we want to be good then for now good is not good enough!
‘So there are many elements we have to improve. I can number 10 elements that we have to improve if we want to be successful and if we want to go for trophies. But that is the ambitions that we have, so we have to invest much more.’
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The Dutchman was far from happy with the goal his side conceded.
