In the FA Cup final this weekend against Manchester City, Gary Neville has asked Erik ten Hag to start with an additional midfielder in the lineup.
The 2022–23 season of Manchester United comes to an end with their third encounter with their local rivals. The first match saw the Red Devils soundly defeated 6-3, a score that favoured Ten Hag’s team. However, United won the most recent rivalry 2-1 at Old Trafford in January.
In the FA Cup final this weekend against Manchester City, Gary Neville has asked Erik ten Hag to start with an additional midfielder in the lineup.
The 2022–23 season of Manchester United comes to an end with their third encounter with their local rivals. The first match saw the Red Devils soundly defeated 6-3, a score that favoured Ten Hag’s team. However, United won the most recent rivalry 2-1 at Old Trafford in January.
Despite the fact that Fred has somewhat fallen out of favour lately, Neville has urged Ten Hag to use the same strategy at Wembley on Saturday. Only two of the last 15 games, across all competitions, have seen the 30-year-old midfielder start, and he hasn’t been chosen right away in a single FA Cup game this year. However, Neville believes that United needs more mobility in the middle of the pitch and said that Fred’s presence could stop another six-goal City thrashing.
In the most recent episode of The Overlap, the former defender stated, “I don’t want Manchester United to play with Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, and Christian Eriksen in midfield.” “Freddy and Casemiro were in the winning team’s game. If Casemiro, Eriksen, and Fernandes start, I just don’t see how City won’t go crazy.
“I think the key may lie in the lack of that tiny bit of something to break up the play.” I believe Fred and Casemiro were on the pitch with him when he won the match at Old Trafford, with Eriksen in the lead. Following that, they had Fernandes to the right, followed by [Marcu] Rashford, [Anthony] Martial, and.
“The reason I think it works is because City can practically have four in the centre with Bruno tucking in there since they don’t have a left-back going forward. Who will that be, Manuel Akanji or Nathan Ake, when we close that off and give City’s left-back the ball?
“In my opinion, if Bruno finds a small opening and moves inside to defend, let City’s left side have it. I want us to proceed in this manner. I want that additional [player]. It really doesn’t matter if Casemiro is playing beside [Scott] McTominay. Having an open middle, in my opinion, will be problematic.