Ten Hag Uses Bizarre Cow Analogy to Explain Fernandes, Antony Substitutions

• Erik ten Hag attempted to justify his decision to remove Bruno Fernandes and Antiny on April 13
• The two players did not last the entire 90 minutes as Manchester United drew with Sevilla
• Bruno Fernandes will be suspended for the return leg in Andalusia next week

Erik ten Hag used a bizarre cow reference to explain why he hooked off Antony and Bruno Fernandes during their disappointing 2-2 draw against Sevilla on April 13.

Manchester United threw away a 2-0 lead to even the tie ahead of the return leg in Spain next week. An early brace from Marcel Sabitzer was cancelled out by two late own goals from Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire.

Fans blasted the players for failing to hold on to the lead, with some of the blame falling squarely on ten Hag for his dubious substitutions. The Dutch manager withdrew Fernandes at the hour mark and Antony in the 81st minute.

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In his defence, United were two goals at that time and were playing confidently. Ten Hag explained to reporters after the game that he was mindful of the fact that both players were already on a yellow card.

Cow analogy

Antony was particularly involved in physical battles with Marcos Acuna during the game. Fernandes was already suspended for the second leg by virtue of his yellow card. Ten Hag referenced a saying from his native Netherlands to explain his reasoning.

"Because the next Bruno was throwing a ball away, so the next he is off. The referee saved him because Sevilla did the same in the first half and the player from Seville got booked for it. Antony, finally, saw it out but don't come in such circumstances. Everything is going our way. 2-0 up, we're playing a good game, so don't go into individual battles with your opponents; it's not necessary, you're heating up the opponent and the risk to get sent off. I don't want to take the risk.

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"It's easily... so afterwards, we call it where I'm coming from, you're looking a cow in the (expletive). Yeah, a cow in the (expletive). So we call it in my region from the Netherlands, that is easy. But when he got sent off, you tell me, 'Why don't you get him off? Why don't you go for the risk?" as quoted by Goal.

The Red Devils will be hoping to get back on track with a Premier League clash against Nottingham Forrest.

Man United legend slams players

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has come up with an interesting take on Lisandro Martinez’s injury incident.

The Red Devils were dealt a major blow as Martinez, who has been instrumental for United in defence since signing from Ajax, incurred an injury

Erik Ten Hag had already been forced to cope with the sudden injury of Raphael Varane, who was replaced by Harry Maguire at halftime.