BREAKING: Man Utd icon baffled by key Erik ten Hag decision during defeat vs Man City

For the second time this season, Manchester United suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of their bitter rivals on Sunday.

Peter Schmeichel, a former Manchester United goalkeeper, has criticized Erik ten Hag for his leadership during Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Manchester City.

Marcus Rashford scored an ill-advised goal to put United ahead early at the Etihad, but City found their game as the first half progressed, steadily putting more distance between themselves and the visitors. Following a pair of goals by Phil Foden in the second half, Erling Haaland scored the game-winning goal in extra time.

Despite requiring a goal in the last ten minutes, Ten Hag substituted Kobbie Mainoo for Alejandro Garnacho shortly after Foden’s second goal made it 2-1. The earlier substitutions of Marcus Rashford and Jonny Evans didn’t help matters, and the subsequent substitutions of Sofyan Amrabat, who made a poor pass, ultimately led to the third and last goal.

As the game went on, I got the impression that the team dug itself a little too deep. “If it had been up to me, I would have been a bit more aggressive,” Schmeichel said in an interview with talkSPORT. And then there’s the matter of making substitutions when you need to alter the game’s trajectory after they’ve scored twice to tie it.

Then what? You ditch your speed and your midfield driving force? You decide to remove your top defenseman? It is unclear to me. When the next game rolls around, will they be rested? To be honest, I’m confused by the alternatives. Looking at Pep’s actions, it’s clear that he’s only benching two players. He usually isn’t one to make many substitutions.

Even though Ten Hag didn’t say it at halftime, Rashford and Evans were both forced to withdraw because they were battling through minor issues all week to be available. United didn’t have a natural striker or left back, and they were already missing nine senior players for the derby.

Ten Hag has all week to evaluate Rashford, Evans, and a number of other missing players before Saturday’s match against Everton at Old Trafford, thanks to the Champions League’s elimination easing the fixture schedule.