Erik ten Hag’s substitutions and Marcus Rashford’s dismal show almost cost Manchester United FA Cup final place | OneFootball

Manchester United were given the shock of their lives and were a hair’s breadth away from defeat against Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday but for VAR to intervene and take the game to penalties.

Andre Onana saved one after Casemiro had his casual effort saved. Ben Sheaf skied his subsequent effort and Rasmus Hojlund scored the winning penalty to set up back-to-back Manchester derbies in the FA Cup final.

But it never should have got to that point. The Red Devils were cruising, 3-0 till the 70th minute and then, the whole team fell apart.

Scott McTominay and Harry Maguire had given the 20-time English league champions a 2-0 lead heading into half time before captain Bruno Fernandes grabbed the third.

Capitulation vs Coventry

Erik ten Hag decided to take his foot off the gas and brought off Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho which allowed the Championship side a way back into the contest as United lost ball retention and the pace on the counter with Antony on.

Marcus Rashford was kept on despite a below-par display and then he subsequently complained about an injury and got himself taken off when the pressure was mounting. Not the best look for a boyhood fan of the club.

The Mancunian kept running into blind alleys and kept making the wrong choices and it is clear that for him, the season is already over and he has zero motivation to  keep playing.

All of the manager’s substitutions weakened the 12-time FA Cup winners and some decisions continue to perplex as the players lost impetus and almost gave things up but for Ellis Simms’ efforts to rattle the frame of the goal and VAR to save them.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka playing on the left is not the best call especially when his excuse was that Garnacho had a great partnership with Diogo Dalot. They keep alternating between the flanks and this lack of consistency does not help.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who attended the game after running the London Marathon, was seen sulking and he has a huge call to take regarding the managerial situation.

Ten Hag and Rashford fail to impress

Despite another FA Cup summit clash to look forward to, Sunday’s Wembley show in front of both owners did not paint a good picture. Injuries have been a problem but capitulation against a team who are eighth in the Championship is not what Ten Hag needed.

The Dutchman was not helped by a cowardly performance from the players as well and former interim manager Ralf Rangnick’s words seem to be echoing truer than ever.

This team needs a complete overhaul with so many under-performing big-name players which no other ruthless team would keep around.

Short-term fixes will not help and it might get painful before it starts to look beautiful again. Despite Wembley calling again, it looks like plenty of the players and even the manager might not be around for that long.

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