Erik ten Hag faced a ghost from his past on Wednesday evening, as Manchester United squared off with FC Twente.
Ten Hag had been a boyhood fan of Twente, growing up in the shadow of their stadium. However, he showed no mercy to his boyhood side as the Red Devils cruised into a lead through a wonderful curling effort from Christian Eriksen.
United were almost too comfortable as Eriksen went from hero to zero as his mistake let the Dutch side back into the game. And Daily Star Sport has a look at what Ten Hag got right and wrong as they kicked off their European campaign at Old Trafford.
Resting Marcus Rashford
(Image: PA)
Marcus Rashford has always been a precious talent – and it’s on nights like these he proves why.
Rashford returned to the starting side after he was dropped over the weekend for Alejandro Garnacho. And, without heavy legs from the weekend, he looked like a man reborn against FC Twente.
There was a moment in the first half that summed Rashford’s game up. He sized up Premier League flop Ricky van Wolfswinkel and popped out a “flip flap” – the move that Ronaldinho made famous. He was oozing confidence.
Christian Eriksen’s new role
(Image: Getty Images)
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Christian Eriksen has been a breath of fresh air under Ten Hag this season.
The Dane’s legs looked to have abandoned him last campaign, but he’s turned it around over the summer. Eriksen is a leader on the pitch – and United, to an extent, play to his tempo at times.
Eriksen netted a throughly deserved goal, taking the shot on first time, thumping it into the far corner. One fan gushed: “Beautiful finish from Christian Eriksen! His best run of form in quite some time!” However, he might not want to rewatch Twente’s equaliser.
Signing Noussair Mazraoui
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Out of the Red Devils’ summer signings, Noussair Mazraoui perhaps arrived with the least hype.
However, it’s taken the full-back less than one month to announce himself to the Red Devils faithful. “Mazraoui has genuinely raised the technical floor of the entire team,” one fan gushed and another added: ‘Noussair Mazraoui for £12million is one of the best bit of business we’ve done as a club!”
Mazraoui’s signature was a masterstroke from Ten Hag, he’s raised the game of the entire backline.
Letting Old Trafford fall flat
(Image: Getty Images)
The Red Devils were cruising – and Old Trafford was expecting a win.
But it fell silent and United players started to get sloppy, Ten Hag looked to his bench, but it was too little too late as Eriksen was caught in possession after some individual magic led to Sam Lammers finding himself one-on-one with Andre Onana.
Lammers had been identified as the danger man in the build-up to the clash, and there was little Onana could do as the ex-Rangers man lifted the ball past the shot-stopper.
Going to his bench
(Image: Getty Images)
With Twente level, Ten Hag was quick to look to his bench.
Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Kobbie Mainoo are all game changers – and they were tasked with saving the day for the Red Devils.
Mainoo grew into the game quickly as Twente dropped deeper and deeper looking to hold onto one point away to the English giants. However, the great wall of the Netherlands proved too much to breach.