Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has described criticism of his decision to withdraw Bruno Fernandes and Antony during the second half of Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla as ‘looking a cow in the ass’.
Ten Hag’s decisions to replace the duo were met with real confusion from supporters but the boss later insisted he was left with no choice as the referee had warned him that both players, who had yellow cards at the time of their exits, were close to being sent off.
Pressed on the situation during Friday’s press conference, Ten Hag related the situation to the Dutch idiom of looking a cow in the ass – insisting it’s easy to question something with the benefit of hindsight.
“Bruno was throwing a ball away, so the next time he would be off,” Ten Hag began. “[The referee] saved him because Sevilla did the same thing in the first half and the player from Seville got booked for it.
“Antony, finally, everything was going our way. 2-0 up, we’re playing a good game, so don’t go into individual battles with your opponents. It’s not necessary. You’re heating up the opponent and there’s a risk you get sent off. I don’t want to take the risk.
“It’s easy… so afterwards, we call it where I’m from, that you’re looking a cow in the ass. Yeah, a cow in the ass. That’s how we call it in my region from the Netherlands.
“When he gets sent off, you would tell me ‘Why don’t you get him off? Why did you take the risk?’.”
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On the subject of risk, Ten Hag also confirmed that he was not prepare to gamble on keeping Anthony Martial on the pitch ahead of Sunday’s trip to Nottingham Forest after the Frenchman, who has only recently returned from injury, played an hour on Thursday.
“Maybe he can [play 90 minutes] but it’s a risk and we can’t take that risk in this moment because we don’t have so many options in the frontline with [Marcus] Rashford and [Alejandro Garnacho] injured,” Ten Hag explained.
“We have to be careful, but also for the individual, we know when there’s a lot of load that he gets injured, and we have to build it, especially when the games come quick.”
United head into the weekend fourth in the Premier League table, tied with third-placed Newcastle on points and just three ahead of Tottenham in fifth.
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