Manchester United completed an incredible comeback to beat Xavi’s Barcelona in Thursday night’s Europa League play-off second-leg.
The Red Devils beat the Catalan giants 4-3 over two legs to secure their place in the competition’s Round of Last 16. Although United came away victorious in what was a night to remember for the Old Trafford crowd, the first 45 minutes were in stark contrast to the second 45 minutes.
Erik Ten Hag opted to tweak his usual system and put Bruno Fernandes on the wing with Jadon Sancho operating as a number 10. It didn’t quite work after Barcelona took a deserved lead through Robert Lewandowski’s successfully converted penalty kick.
Recognising the need to change it up, Ten Hag made a simple half-time change that saw striker Wout Weghorst sacrificed for Brazilian wide-man Antony.
Following a minor alteration in the system, United, thanks to a 47-minute equaliser from midfielder Fred, were able to hit back almost immediately. Antony then scored what turned out to be the game’s winner with around 15 minutes left to play.
Reacting to Ten Hag’s in-game tactical decisions, former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore has heaped the praise on the Dutchman.
“I have officially joined the Erik Ten Hag fan club,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.
“I thought his decisions against Barcelona in the Europa League second leg at Old Trafford on Thursday night were brilliant. He displayed exactly what you look for in a coach. He showed the ability to be proactive in his decision-making.”
Going on to compare the work Ten Hag is doing at United to Mikel Arteta’s improvements at Arsenal, Collymore explained why he feels the former is a better man-manager than the Gunners boss.
“He is really, really growing on me whereas a manager like Mikel Arteta hasn’t,” the ex-pro added.
“I just feel like there is a ruthlessness about Ten Hag that Arteta doesn’t have. I’m not disputing the good work Arteta has done at Arsenal, but I’m really enjoying the way Ten Hag has dealt with a lot of adversity early on and come out the other side and made average players good, good players great and great players genius.
“He comes across like a manager who wouldn’t say too much on the training ground but he’d give you a pat on the back if you are doing something right, or a glare if you’re not and I think, just going back to the comparison I made with Arteta, the pair’s approaches to that type of man-management are very different. Arteta is all in his player’s faces, telling them and anyone else that will listen how much he loves them whereas Ten Hag is a lot more measured. There’s no grey area with him – he’s the boss and not your mate.”