Erik ten Hag explains Brazilian substitution and criticizes two players

During Manchester United‘s match against Brentford, Casemiro delivered a subpar performance, prompting manager Erik ten Hag to make a halftime substitution by bringing in Christian Eriksen.

United were trailing 1-0 at that point. Casemiro, who had an outstanding 2022-23 season, has struggled throughout the current season, raising questions about his place in the team.

The reason why Teng Hag brought on Eriksen for Casemiro

Ten Hag explained that he wanted to inject more creativity and passing into the team, which is why he decided to replace Casemiro with Eriksen.

The decision proved pivotal as substitute Scott McTominay scored two late goals to secure a thrilling comeback victory for United, preventing a third consecutive home defeat.

Despite the victory, Ten Hag wasn’t entirely satisfied with the team’s performance.

Ten Hag post-match comments

United had previously faced defeats from teams that showed more determination, and Ten Hag stressed that this attitude needs to change. During the post-match interview, the Dutchman said.

“Those games give fuel to a dressing room, they know how far they have to go to get results and that it can’t be easy-going.

In football, it’s eaten or you get eaten. Too many times, in the first half of the season, we got eaten by opponents who were more hungry and that can’t be. It has to go away.

Every player, every second he is on the pitch, he has to deliver that; that is the demand and the standard. When you do that, we have seen last season, you get a determined team. And we were not always determined on every occasion in games and you get hammered for this and it has to change.”

said Ten Hag

Ten Hag also criticized some players for their decision-making during the build-up to Brentford’s opening goal.

He pointed out lapses in defensive organization (unnamed players) and poor choices that led to the opposition’s goal. He mentioned that the team had control over the game but needed to create more scoring opportunities.

In conclusion, Ten Hag emphasized the need for the team to improve its decision-making, organization, and overall performance.

He called for a higher level of responsibility from the players and acknowledged the importance of team spirit and unity in achieving success.