Ten Hag claims Varane was benched against City for 'tactics'
Asked why he chose to field Evans rather than Varane in central defence against Manchester City on Sunday, Erik ten Hag said it was a tactical choice.
Manchester City strolled into Old Trafford and won the derby 3-0 against Manchester United thanks to Erling Haaland, scorer of a brace and an assist, on Sunday to maintain their place on the podium ahead of Liverpool.
Erik ten Hag's decision to start Jonny Evans in central defence in place of Raphael Varane may have come as a surprise before the match even began, but it was questioned even more afterwards.
Asked about this in the post-match press conference, the Red Devils coach explained his choice: "I chose Evans as the starter and Varane on the bench from a tactical point of view, yes. Exactly."
Ten Hag went on to explain, "When you play City, they will press and play with Rapha [on the right] and Maguire on the left, that can cause problems and you end up just playing long balls. He [Maguire] is, for me, better on the right, especially against teams that press high."
Clearly, the French defender was perfectly fit to play. However, the Dutchman decided that the 35-year-old Northern Irishman was capable of performing better than his 30-year-old counterpart. A choice that clearly did not bear fruit...