Erik ten Hag reveals reason behind lack of Man United rotation in FA Cup win vs Reading

Erik ten Hag made just one change to his Manchester United side that won 3-1 against Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday evening.

Harry Maguire came into the starting XI for Lisandro Martinez, with the 10 others on the team sheet being those who started against Nottingham Forest mid-week.

It came as a surprise to many because of the hectic schedule that The Reds have coming up. It also came as a surprise to the Championship visitors.

“You spend the week thinking ‘is he going to play? Or is he going to play?’ then you see the United team sheet and you think ‘Jesus, he’s going full throttle here’,” said Paul Ince after the FA Cup tie.

Major rotation has never been something that Ten Hag favours, even at his time with Ajax. He prefers to allow his first-team players to gel and gain momentum as they’re still looking to improve in the style the Dutchman wants to play.

These fixtures where United are expected to control the ball against a deep block are perfect opportunities to test the attacking and build-up patterns they are working on at Carrington.

“I think players like to play,” explained Ten Hag. “You can build and construct a good team if you play often and in my perspective when you play often the same, you’re getting the routines in.

“We want to win every game. We have a squad and we have to plan as well but there is a big responsibility for the players to be ready, be fit. It is about recovery, sleep and football.”

Despite this, there are always risks with this approach and Christian Eriksen fell to injury in the second half of the game.

The Danish midfielder was pictured leaving the stadium on the night with crutches after a horrid challenge from former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll.

“It’s always difficult to say shortly after the game finishes,” said Ten Hag when asked about the injury. “It’s the ankle. We’ll have to see the diagnoses.

“It will be at least 24 hours before we know that and then I can say more.”