Owen Hargreaves believes Erik ten Hag is ‘worried’ about Rasmus Hojlund’s workload after he was benched for Manchester United’s Europa League clash against Fenerbahce.
Hojlund scored a superb goal in United’s comeback win over Brentford in the Premier League last weekend so it was a surprise to see Joshua Zirkzee start ahead of him in Istanbul.
While Zirkzee played a part in Christian Eriksen’s first-half opener, the move did not bring much success for Manchester United and Ten Hag opted to introduce Hojlund in place of the Dutchman shortly after half-time.
By then Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce had already scored a deserved equaliser through Youssef En-Nesyri and his 49th-minute header ended up being the last goal as the match finished 1-1.
Hargreaves and fellow Old Trafford legend Paul Scholes were both surprised that Hojlund started on the bench and also thought Casemiro should have been involved from the outset.
The hectic schedule undoubtedly played a role in Ten Hag’s decision – United travel to east London on Sunday to face West Ham – but Scholes said his former club were not in a position to be able to rest and rotate players so freely.
‘I think if he played Hojlund and Casemiro tonight they would have made a big difference,’ Scholes said on TNT Sports.
‘I know there’s games coming up but Erik ten Hag needs to win games now so play your best players.’
Hargreaves added: ‘I think I’d have to agree. He [Ten Hag] is worried about Hojlund and his minutes, he knows he needs him for West Ham at the weekend.
‘I definitely would have played Casemiro. [Manuel] Ugarte played really well, he looked good, but offensively United didn’t show much.
‘It was a fair result in the end. I don’t think United can expect to go there and win right now, given their form. But three points after three [Europa League] games isn’t good enough, clearly.’
Hojlund missed the start of the season through injury but has featured in all of the club’s last seven games, earning three starts in that time.
Since he arrived at Old Trafford in a £72m move from Atalanta, the Denmark striker has scored 18 goals in 50 appearances.
TNT Sport co-commentator Robbie Savage, meanwhile, felt 1-1 was a ‘fair result for both teams’ after watching the Europa League encounter from the stands.
Fenerbahce wanted a penalty shortly after equalising but the on-field referee waved the appeals away and VAR confirmed the right decision was made.
Mourinho was furious with the call, however, and was shown a red card and sent to the stands for his outburst in the dugout.
‘I think on the balance of play, in that first half, Fenerbahce were the better side, but Manchester United scored a great goal on the counter attack,’ Savage said.
‘Fenerbahce could have gone into half-time level. They’ve come out, scored a goal, but they’ve not created that much in the second half.
‘Jose will be happy, I think, especially being 1-0 down. It’s a fair result for both teams.’
On Sunday, Manchester United face a West Ham side who have won just two of their eight league games so far this season and were thumped 4-1 by Tottenham last time out.