Danny Murphy has criticised Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal for his team selection in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth.
With injuries rife in his squad, Van Gaal named an inexperienced starting XI at the Vitality Stadium.
Guillermo Varela, 22, made his first Premier League start at right-back, while 20-year-old Paddy McNair and teenager Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (pictured above) also lined up in defence.
Former Liverpool midfielder Murphy, who now works as a pundit, questioned why Van Gaal put his faith in youth, when he had experience on the bench, in the shape of international stars such as Ashley Young, Phil Jones and Morgan Schneiderlin.
Murphy told BBC Sport: “Even though Louis van Gaal has got injuries, on the bench against Bournemouth he had Ashley Young, who is an international, Phil Jones, who has played for his country at full-back, Morgan Schneiderlin, who has done a job there for Southampton in the past. Yet he’s putting in inexperienced kids who are not that good if I’m honest.”
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Another former Liverpool player, Alan Hansen, famously knocked legendary United boss Sir Alex Ferguson for picking too many young players in a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa on the opening day of the 1995-96 season.
The likes of Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and both Neville brothers featured in that game, after which Hansen said on Match of the Day: “You’ll never win anything with kids.”
Hansen was proved emphatically wrong – as those Man United kids won the title with 82 points, but that crop of youngsters were special. Murphy does not seem to think this group are. Do you?
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