Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez 'dumped' for 'horrific' defending as Gary Neville mocks Erik ten Hag's team selection

Today at 08:57 AM

Manchester United legend Gary Neville could only mock Erik ten Hag’s team selection for the vital clash with Aston Villa.

The Dutchman picked Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans ahead of £86million duo Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez at centre-back.

The move comes just days after a 3-3 draw with Porto in the Europa League and a 3-0 loss to Tottenham saw his job come under further scrutiny.

Before kick-off the Red Devils sat 14th in the Premier League table with Villa flying high and chasing down Liverpool, Man City, and Arsenal.

But Ten Hag has insisted the selection was down to rotation with fixtures thick and fast with European football starting last month.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Ten Hag said: “Rotation. We have so many games to play so we have to bring them all in.

“You also look at what is needed for this game so then you make the choice.”

And with pressure building on the Dutch boss, he was asked if the game might be too important for the likes of De Ligt and fellow new boy Manuel Ugarte.

He replied: “No, nothing to do with [them getting up to speed]. There is no more pressure than any other game.”

But eight-time Premier League winner Neville openly mocked the decision to drop De Ligt and Martinez for Evans and Maguire.

“I actually at one point thought that Gary and Phil Neville might be full-backs,” he laughed on Sky Sports.

“I must admit if you think about the fact Manchester United have six centre-backs.

“Jonny Evans has been a fantastic centre-back, Harry Maguire is a really good centre-back still.

“But if you had said to me we would end up with these two at centre-back six or seven games in then I would think that there must be four injuries to the others.

“The fact that De Ligt and Martinez have obviously been dumped to the bench – you can’t really argue with the decision from a football perspective.

“If you watched the goals that Manchester United conceded in Porto, they were horrific from Martinez and De Ligt’s point of view.

“Just optically, looking at it from a point of view of the plan. The plan this season was for Erik ten Hag to establish his style of play and shift the team up the pitch, make them more aggressive, make them more in the style of what he wanted to implement.

“United are now going to be camped at the edge of their box with Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans. This is not the plan.

“For me it’s a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water. A little bit like when a manager is struggling at the end of his tenure when they throw the young players in.

“It’s like, ‘I’m going to pick the players who I like and the ones who I can trust’. It feels a little bit like that today.

“But look, United have got results when Erik ten Hag has needed it in the past and we’ll see what happens.”