After suffering defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad in their Europa League opener, the clash against Sheriff Tiraspol ended up becoming a must-win for Manchester United.
And Erik ten Hag ended up picking his strongest XI for the game and the travelling squad included all the heavyweights with the exception of Marcus Rashford.
And in the end, United picked up their first win of the competition as they eased to a comfortable 2-0 victory against their Moldovan opposition.
Malacia as RB
With the exception of Rashford, the Dutch manager opted to start the same team that beat Arsenal a few weeks back. A solid first-half display meant the coach could make a few changes in the second 45 minutes.
Surprisingly, towards the end of the second half, Luke Shaw got on the pitch as the left-back with Diogo Dalot substituted. And it was Tyrell Malacia who switched flanks and ended up completing the game as the right-back.
Good job in Moldova. Signing off for the international break now 🦁 pic.twitter.com/gEYxdNWhyE
— Tyrell Malacia (@TyrellMalaciia) September 16, 2022
He looked comfortable and made his usual forward forays without hesitation. And this indicates that Aaron Wan-Bissaka might not get too much game time going forward.
Dalot is the undisputed starter on that side of the defence while in the Sociedad game, Victor Lindelof ended up occupying that role for the second half.
The Spider’s United career ending soon?
As previously reported, Wan-Bissaka was named as a substitute for the Old Trafford game but was seen in the directors’ box and he did not even make the trip to Moldova.
Ten Hag does not seem to rate the English defender and he has just made one cameo appearance in the win against Liverpool.
Even in the Europa League, the former Crystal Palace defender has not made it to the bench and his chances of earning a start grow ever slimmer after Ten Hag’s ploy of using Malacia and Lindelof as makeshift right full-backs.
“Sancho in preparing the goal with Bruno he was in the centre-forward position. We did some experiments this night, bringing Tyrell on the right and Luke on the left, that’s two good moves, we can be very able and we need that in the season,” Ten Hag was quoted as saying by The Athletic.
The Peoples Person has already reported how Ten Hag wanted to get rid of the 24-year-old but the United management did not want to take a hit on their initial investment after Palace bid only £10million after selling him for £45 million.
January might be the right time for United to get a new right-back in while Wan-Bissaka looks to resurrect his career somewhere else in the Premier League.
