Ten Hag’s tactical tweak against Brentford turns into masterstroke as Man Utd finally end goal drought
JADON SANCHO justified Erik ten Hag’s masterstroke selection against Brentford by outperforming Wout Weghort with ease as Manchester United finally ended their goal drought.
Weghorst played 62 minutes in the 2-0 defeat at Newcastle on Sunday.
In that time he managed a measly TEN touches as his long wait for a Premier League goal goes on.
That prompted Ten Hag to switch it up against Brentford tonight, ditching Weghorst and bringing Sancho into the attack.
And after just 20 minutes, Sancho had already had more touches than Weghorst did on Sunday.
By the half-hour mark, the English winger had already racked up 28 touches.
Plus his dangerous corner was recycled in the build-up to Marcus Rashford’s opening goal to end United’s barren streak following three games without a goal.
Ten Hag’s side drew blanks in the defeats at Liverpool and Newcastle, either side of the 0-0 stalemate at home to Southampton.
However, they looked far more dangerous with Weghorst withdrawn from the team for the first time and Sancho operating on the left flank – with Rashford through the middle.
Asked about the decision, Ten Hag explained: “Creativity. Jadon is making good progress since he came back.
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“He can play the final pass, have an action one-on-one, he has movement in behind and can score goals.”
Fans took to Twitter to heap praise on Ten Hag and Sancho.
One said: “Ever since we took out Weghorst and played Antony and Sancho as our wingers, the attack is more fluid.”
Another wrote: “I don’t want to see Weghorst ever again brev – Sancho, Rashford, Antony, Pellistri, Martial. Pick three from them.”
And a third joked: “If the Nobel Prize had a football category, Ten Hag probably would have won it. He has the mind of a scientist and the imagination of a painter. Football hasn’t seen a creative genius like him.”