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Owen Hargreaves has slammed Erik ten Hag’s ‘crazy’ tactic that saw Manchester United thrashed by Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.
A brace from Luis Diaz and another goal for Mohamed Salah at Old Trafford saw Arne Slot’s side cruise to a comfortable 3-0 win against the Red Devils.
The manner of the defeat saw Ten Hag’s tactics placed under the microscope once again, with all three goals a consequence of United being heavily outnumbered after they lost the ball in the middle of the park.
Noussair Mazraoui, in particular, was nowhere to be seen for Diaz’s opening goal, with Hargreaves suggesting it was ‘crazy’ from Ten Hag to have his full-backs so high up the pitch against a deadly Liverpool front three.
‘The first goal is a bad pass from Casemiro and he gets all the criticism but the full-backs can’t be there against Liverpool,’ the former United midfielder said on the Kelly and Wrighty Show.
‘They get in this crazy position where they are too high. Okay, it’s a bad ball but where are your two full-backs against Liverpool – it’s crazy!
‘And that’s on the manager. Mazroui should be there at the back post but Diaz just ends up getting a tap-in.
‘But again that’s on the manager because he is saying “when we get the ball, you go high”. You only go high when you have good possession and they didn’t with all those goals.’
Speaking at full-time, Liverpool boss Slot said his analysts had highlighted United’s vulnerable areas and claimed Liverpool’s midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai played a pivotal role in the game.
‘Last season, they were man-marking in the midfield and they had a press with the No.7 and the No.11, so with the striker and one of the wingers jumped with him,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘This season they are more with a No.9 and a No.10 press, so they are more in a 4-4-2, so that’s different of course.
‘I see them, in my opinion, working harder if the ball is being played through them, so they run more. That’s at least what I saw in their first games.
‘Their style is also this season, maybe last season as well, that I don’t remember that well, but their full-backs are, nine out of ten times, really high and then Casemiro comes in between so if you pick the ball and you can keep Luis Diaz and Mo Salah high, then you’re constantly in a one-vs-one situation.
‘And then you need midfielders who can run, and we had three of them today who kept on running and if they arrive in a duel they are aggressive enough to win it. That was I think one of the main things why we could win today.’
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