Reaction and latest updates as Man Utd sack manager Erik ten Hag

Simon Stone
BBC Sport’s leading football news reporter at Football Daily

If we just look at Harry Maguire and this brings us back to the recruitment aspect and how much of a say Erik ten Hag had in it, in fact first of all he decided that Maguire couldn’t play as a left sided centre. back and that he had to play as a right-sided centre-back because he didn’t open his body quickly enough and wasn’t as mobile as he wanted. He then decided that Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez were his two main centre-backs and this summer he decided that Matthijs de Ligt was his main man.

Now it is his decisions, he is the manager of the football club, he will stand or fall with the decisions he makes. I think he basically just said to Maguire, ‘look, you’re not my first choice as a centre-back, you’re an English player, if you want to go, go’. Maguire decided he would not go, but would stay.

The secondary point to that is that no one who has played in central defense, even though Martinez looked really good in his first season until he got injured, no one who has played in central defense has stayed fit enough or been good enough played to make you think. he’s better than Harry Maguire.

So all this money has been spent and Manchester United has not improved.

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