Owen Hargreaves has spoken about his ‘surprise’ at Marcus Rashford not playing on the left to test Trent Alexander-Arnold during Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday at Anfield.
The former England midfielder thinks Alexander-Arnold was ‘magnificent’ during the game, but he doesn’t think anybody tested him.
Rather than Rashford playing on the left-hand side, it was the more creative Bruno Fernandes that occupied that role instead and he had a torrid afternoon on Merseyside.
When Man United were thrown about like a rag doll by their rivals, the obvious was spoken about.
But one call by Erik ten Hag, to play Rashford down the middle and not up against his England teammate given his form, was questioned.
Either way, Alexander-Arnold had to deal with what was in front of him and Hargreaves thinks he did his job, as he told Premier League Productions (05/03/23 at 6:55 pm).
“I was surprised that Bruno (Fernandes) was on the left wing the whole game,” said Hargreaves. “I didn’t quite understand that. Weghorst, I don’t think he affected the game.
“I thought Trent (Alexander-Arnold) played magnificent, by the way, as a right-back. But I don’t think anybody tested him.
“I think they should have let Marcus (Rashford) stay on the left-hand side and get after Trent. But it just didn’t work. The game plan didn’t work.”
TEN HAG MISTAKE
The Dutchman has made some big calls during his time at Manchester United and many of them correct. But everything went wrong on Sunday.
Some would argue, if Man United had scored in the first half, then things would have been very different.
But, in the end, there were no excuses for that second-half meltdown, which Liverpool fans will want to remind their rivals about for as long as they live.
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