Erik Ten Hag questioned after defeat in West Ham
Peter Crouch and Rio Ferdinand questioned Erik Ten Hag decision following Manchester United defeat to struggling West Ham in the Premier League.
Former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand and Peter Crouch has question the decision of Ten Hag playing Wout Weghorst as a No. 10 against the Hammers.
The Red Devils suffered another defeat in London as their away form continuing to be a thing of concern in the Premier League.
United created a number of chances as the game progressed, but could not find a way back into the game after a string of tame finishes.
Weghorst, who remains goalless after 14 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils, came under particular criticism after being deployed behind main striker Marcus Rashford, an unusual position for a 6ft 6in centre forward.
“’I just can’t understand it,” Peter Crouch told BT Sport, “I can’t get my head around what he offers in that position.”
On now to get the best out of the Dutchman, he added: “If you play Weghorst you’ve got to play him high up so the likes of Rashford and [Jadon] Sancho can bounce balls of him, you can play one touch and then he’s in the box for any crosses.”
The Dutchman is currently on loan at the club from Burnley, but reports this week have suggested he is unlikely to join the club permanently this summer.
Ferdinand agreed that Weghorst was not well-suited to the role he played on Sunday. He added: “Man United’s Number 10 doesn’t look like Weghorst in my eyes.
“If I am Sancho, Bruno [Fernandes], [Alejandro] Garnacho, [Anthony] Martial and I’m seeing him line up as a no 10 in front of me, the number 10 shirt means something else.
“It’s a player that can create, who has got guile, who’s going to get between the lines and get on the half turn and bring other people into play in that sense and get goals. He doesn’t offer enough of those things I’ve said.”
United remain in the Champions League places after Sunday’s loss, but are now just one point ahead of fifth place Liverpool with a game in hand.
Follow us on all social media platform, @Sportscliffs on Twitter and Instagram and also like our facebook page