“There are a lot of FIFA fans” – Former Man United defender defends Erik ten Hag’s criticised decision

Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has come to the defence of Erik ten Hag, who has started Wout Weghorst in every game since the striker joined the club in January.

The Dutch striker came into the fold as an emergency loan signing following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Anthony Martial was not trusted to remain fit – a decision that has been proven right – and therefore, Weghorst was introduced to the side.

Since his debut away at Crystal Palace, the 30-year-old striker has started every game and has even played in the attacking midfield role on a number of occasions.

With just one goal to his name with The Reds, many fans have been critical of Ten Hag’s decision to continue starting the forward. However, Parker believes that there is a clear reason behind the manager’s thought process.

“Wout Weghorst is being used in a kind of withdrawn forward sometimes where he is dropping down to the midfield,” the ex-United defender began explaining to Kelbet. “And I think it makes really good sense and I find it crazy that people are criticising Erik ten Hag for making him do that.

“But there are a lot of FIFA-fans out there who are only looking at stats. They are looking at how many goals he has scored and even the TV pundits are doing the same but they don’t know anything about Weghorst.”

Ten Hag has stuck to what he knows in relation to his signings at Manchester United so far. He has signed two Dutch players, three that have recently played in the Eredivisie. He knew both Weghorst and Christian Eriksen from their time in the Netherlands, whilst his contacts from his time at Bayern Munich could have pointed him in the direction of Marcel Sabitzer.

This might not be the correct long-term strategy for the manager but whilst United were in the process of rehauling their scouting department, it made complete sense to get players that Ten Hag knew into the door.

Weghorst might not be the best striker in the world but he’s someone that Ten Hag can trust and the manager knows his strengths and weaknesses.

“Erik ten Hag knows him very well,” continued Parker. “He sees him everyday at training and he even knew him very well before he moved to Man United so he knows how he can get the best out of Wout Weghorst.”