‘We rebuilt him’ – Ten Hag drops hint over Amad ahead of Sheffield United clash | OneFootball

Erik ten Hag has indicated Amad could start for Manchester United against Sheffield United.

The 21-year-old has not started for United since December 2021 and he has made six appearances off the bench this season.

Amad’s highlight of the season came in the FA Cup quarter-final win over Liverpool, after scoring the winning goal to end Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of winning the cup before leaving Anfield this summer.

The Ivory Coast international sustained a knee injury during pre-season and did not return until late December. As a result, Ten Hag has had to ease the winger back into action.

“Amad deserves it (to start matches), but don’t forget he had a long period in the season injured,” Ten Hag told reporters, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “So we rebuilt him and now he has had some opportunities and a real contribution.

“He played in a position that is not his best position. He started as a striker and then he had to play in the midfield, so he did well. We have a number of players in that area, there is big competition.

“He already deserved more game minutes, I would say, but I have to choose there. We have (Alejandro) Garnacho, Antony, and we have Omari Forson. We have a number of players in that position and we have to make choices there.

“But I am very happy with his performances and his progress, I see his qualities and his assets can really contribute to our game.”

Ten Hag could be without 12 first-team players if Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford fail to recover after they came off with knocks in the FA Cup semi-final win over Coventry City.

Amad replaced Rashford and made a positive contribution on the pitch, so it would be good to see him get a chance from the start when the Reds take on Sheffield United.

The manager is demanding a big performance against the Blades on Wednesday night.

“And still we perform,” Ten Hag stressed. “Tomorrow we will be create and we will put a team out that is capable of winning the match, even if we have to be really creative. We have to put players in other positions.

“I only see our [injury] problems across the season and that is what I have analysed. I am sure we are building, and I know the depth of the squad from the start of the season, we have to improve, and the depth hasn’t always been.

“That was the case when I started here and we started to reconstruct and build in key positions where we wanted to have an upgrade. Now we have to build further on, also in the depth of the squad.

“So far as a manager, I have never had this (injury crisis) before. It is so many injuries across the season. That is only what I can say from my experience.”

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