“It doesn’t belong on the pitch” – Erik ten Hag slams Andy Carroll after reckless tackle led to Christian Eriksen long-term injury

Erik ten Hag has slammed Reading striker Andy Carroll after his horror challenge against Christian Eriksen that “doesn’t belong on the pitch”, according to the United manager.

Eriksen, 30, has been sidelined for around three months after the challenge from the former Liverpool player. United have brought in Bayern Munich’s Marcel Sabitzer on loan as an emergency replacement.

Carroll was sent off in the FA Cup fixture against United but was left unharmed after his dangerous lunge at the Dane. He received two yellow cards in quick succession afterwards to leave his team with 10 men.

Darren England, who was the referee on the night, somehow failed to book the 34-year-old despite being five yards away from the clash.

“I’m disappointed about that,” said Ten Hag when asked about the nature of Carroll’s fouls. “I think football has to set limits, restrictions, that protect the players. What football wants is the best players to be available on the pitch.

“This is a tackle – and the two tackles after it – that don’t belong on a pitch, because there is a high risk of injuring your colleague. So it’s worse and I’m left wondering about that.

“I’m also wondering more, when we were at Crystal Palace, when there was an elbow on Lisandro Martinez. I don’t believe there was even a whistle for a free-kick and I’m wondering about such things, because it’s a risk of injury for the player.”

Ten Hag has an issue on his hands, with only two fit midfield players who play in the double pivot. Scott McTominay, Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek are all injured.

The addition of Sabitzer will help strengthen the engine room but with a hectic schedule, the United manager has suggested there could be alternative moves within the squad too.

“He did it before,” he added, when asked about the chance of Martinez playing in midfield. “This is also one thing that me as a manager, you have to be creative in certain situations when in other departments you have players who can’t be starting XI players because I can only play one player in that position, maybe we can move the departments and be creative to form the team.”