Erik ten Hag has started Facundo Pellistri for Manchester United’s match against Bayern Munich because of tactical reasons....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
United were defeated 3-1 against Brighton at Old Trafford at the weekend and Ten Hag has just made on change from that starting team, with Scott McTominay moving to the bench to accommodate Pellistri on the right wing.…READFULL
Jadon Sancho and Antony are currently unavailable and that’s left Pellistri as the only natural right-sided forward in the squad, but he’s only previously made a single start for the club and that was in the Europa League last season.
Pellistri will make his second start against Bayern in the Champions League group stage on Wednesday night and he’s set to be joined by Marcus Rashford on the opposite flank and new signing Rasmus Hojlund down the middle.
Ten Hag discussed his team selection to TNT Sports ahead of kick-off at the Allianz Arena and said: “Last year, we battled for the Champions League, this is where we belong, we deserve it, but we have to prove we deserve it again.
“Pellistri is doing very well, over a long period. He came from South America and to start against Brighton would be a tough journey. Today, I think tactically, it fits very good because [Alphonso] Davies is very offensive.
“He’s got a lot of speed, and Pellistri can match that. Davies is not a great defender and his dribbling, so yeah, a good game for it [to start Pellistri]. We can have a lot of possession and with Bruno in the No.10, he’s creative and a very good presser as well.
“I expect him, together with Hojlund, to occupy the three players from Munich. First we have to make it compact and those two are very good pressers, so I expect a lot from them and then we have Casemiro and Eriksen [behind].”
When asked about the difficulty of his job, Ten Hag added: “When you’re at Manchester United, adversity is always there. As a group, we have to deal with it, get energy from it, get strong because it’s only possible [to succeed] when you’re together.
“We have to protect ourselves, focus on the process and focus on being better…READFULL
