Erik ten Hag’s big mistake vs Crystal Palace was repeated vs FC Twente, it cost Man United the win

Manchester United have drawn their last two games against Crystal Palace and FC Twente in a difficult week for Erik ten Hag and his side.

The Reds played their opening Europa League clash against FC Twente on Wednesday evening but failed to defend their 1-0 lead from the first-half.

Christian Eriksen scored the opener in the Old Trafford encounter but then made a mistake as the Dutch side equalised in the second half.

United played a decent game until that goal and then looked disappointing in the closing stages of the game. They never really looked like scoring a winner.

It feels like a similar story to their visit to Crystal Palace, where missed chances were then mixed with a poor end to the game.

Ten Hag’s repeated mistake vs Palace & FC Twente

Ten Hag will feel unfortunate that his team were not already well ahead in the game by the 60th-minute in both of these games.

However, that does not excuse his mistake in terms of his substitutes. He brought Joshua Zirkzee off early at Selhurst Park and then Amad Diallo was also replaced shortly afterwards.

Both of those attacking players are seeming to really help the team click in possession. We have seen some good football played and they have been key to that.

After they came off against Palace, particularly Zirkzee, the Reds failed to create many chances or sustain attacks in the final third.

Despite seeing that on the weekend, Ten Hag repeated that mistake on Wednesday as he brought Amad off for Alejandro Garnacho and Zirkzee for Rasmus Højlund.

While those two players coming on are danger-men, they do not have the ability to help sustain attacks through their playmaking – and without those players, they struggled.

The United boss has to find a balance with his in-game management. You can have these exciting options off the bench but it seems like United’s attacking gameplan needs these more technical players involved.

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