Manchester United legend goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel lashed out at left-back Tyrell Malasia as the Dutch full-back misjudged in United's 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur to allow Harry Kane to receive the ball behind him and assist Son Heung-min's equaliser. It is worth mentioning that this is the second time that Malaysia has made a similar mistake in judgment, and against Sevilla's Europa League, he also missed the goal, which eventually caused an own goal.
Schmeichel believes it is not surprising that Manchester United's defensive line is already fragile without Lisandro Martinez and Varane, and with players making mistakes, it is not surprising that they have conceded goals. Coach Ten Hag was blamed for making four changes in 10 minutes, including the yellow-carded Wan-Bissaka with Malasia, which brought a change in both left and right full-backs, with starting left-back Diogu Darlow returning to right-back.
In the goal conceded by the equal, both full-backs made mistakes, and Darlow did not target Son Heung-min at the back point, allowing Tottenham to play the long-lost "Son Kai connection". But it all started with the loss of position in Malaysia, after he made a mistake, Luke Shaw had to fill in the position, at this time the two Tottenham players directly one-on-one with Darlow and Lindelöf, the attacking players naturally took the initiative in the running position, so the South Korean winger got the scoring space.
Schmeichel said: "Because of the absence of Varane and Lima, we were too vulnerable defensively. In the first goal, the opponent crosses without pressure, United must block the pass before the opponent gets up and then don't care about the following player. Victor Lindelöf is half centre-back, half full-back, Luke Shaw is directly a full-back, they are directly attracted to the ball, there is no opponent in air defense and running."
The Danish goalkeeper went on to criticize: "As for the second goal, I don't know what Malaysia is doing. The ball slipped straight past him, and he just looked at the ball. You come off the bench and you have to make an impact and do the work assigned by the manager. But I'm not sure why Ten Hag replaced Wan-Bissaka, he played well today. We were 2-1 up and you don't need to change that much, especially with the best defensive players."
Ten Hag's decision to replace Danish midfielder Eriksen is also seen as ceding control of the midfield. The 31-year-old former Tottenham midfielder had a 91 per cent success rate on passing the ball, compared to 71 per cent for his replacement, and the Brazil international has lost the ball nine times, one more than an hour of play.
After the game, Eriksen analysed the reasons why United lost points: "I think we missed the last few points that really made the difference between the game. We relaxed the throttle and that was our problem. When you're only 2-0 up, the situation can change very quickly, we didn't control it well and didn't take the opportunity to give them the chance to score the first goal, which boosted the confidence of the opponent. There are still a few races to play, we need to move on and regain the conviction to kill the race, we need to cross the finish line."
Two other Manchester United legends Leo Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves also questioned several of Ten Hag's changes, with the exception of Marcia and Fred, Martial and Westhorst also playing a role, but also stressed that United's squad depth may also be one of the reasons why the 53-year-old Dutchman's substitution did not work as it should.