“A bit of an odd one…”: Gary Neville probes Erik ten Hag’s puzzling treatment of Amad Diallo | OneFootball

Gary Neville has questioned why Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been reluctant to use Amad Diallo more this season despite the other attackers’ struggles in front of goal.

Amad has only managed 46 minutes of Premier League action since he returned from a long-term injury that ruled him out of action for the first half of the season.

His lack of playing time has especially been puzzling considering just how much Antony has been ineffective. The Brazilian has yet to register a goal contribution in the top flight this term.

Jadon Sancho was also released and allowed to join Borussia Dortmund on loan.

Despite all this, Amad has been an unused substitute in six of United’s last seven Premier League outings. At times, even academy starlet Omari Forson has been preferred ahead of the Ivorian.

Forson started United’s clash against Fulham and was brought on from the bench ahead of Amad in United’s subsequent game vs. Manchester City. It’s however likely that Forson was given the chance to play in those games due to his contract situation.

The Carrington academy graduate’s deal is set to expire in June and he has so far resisted attempts from the club to urge him to put pen to paper on fresh terms that would see him extend his stay at Old Trafford.

Amad made his mark during United’s FA Cup quarter-final clash against Liverpool last weekend. The 21-year-old bagged the winning goal with just seconds left on the clock in extra time.

He was sent off after receiving a second booking for taking his shirt off while celebrating his all-important strike which sent United through to the semi-final of the competition. He later admitted that he forgot he was already on a yellow card.

Amad’s situation was discussed during the latest episode of The Stick to Football Podcast.

Neville and his colleagues including Ian Wright deliberated on why the United forward has been used very sparingly by Ten Hag despite his obvious talent and potential.

Wright said to Neville, “I bumped into him last night at a restaurant, Diallo.”

“You know what I was really surprised with, do you remember when they played Forson in that game a couple of weeks ago?”

“They didn’t start him [Amad] but they started Forson, but then he came on in that game. I was thinking, with his experience at Sunderland and Rangers before, I thought they would have started him.”

Neville agreed and added that it was indeed peculiar why Ten Hag hasn’t handed him more opportunities.

The United legend remarked, “Over the last month or so it’s been a bit of an odd one that he’s not been given a chance because obviously a few others have.”

Ten Hag of course previously addressed Amad’s lack of minutes and blamed it on intense competition for places within the ranks.