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Ten Hag explains surprise Garnacho substitution

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has explained the surprise decision to take off Alejandro Garnacho at halftime against Bournemouth.

The Red Devils' disappointing form in the Premier League continued after drawing 2-2 with the Cherries on Saturday evening.

Garnacho, however, was hauled off at halftime, having not affected the game too much on the right flank.

Read: European hopes dashed as Man Utd drop points

Ten Hag reveals they had problems defending on the right side and decided to make the change at halftime.

"Harry Maguire had an issue first half and, luckily for us, he overcame and recovered from it," Ten Hag said, as per Manchester Evening News.

"You can see the second half he was up there and then he can express his leadership, he can express his defensive qualities and rest on the ball, we especially needed that in this back four.

"We lost some balls in areas we shouldn't lose them. If you see the first goal, the set-up was good but in that area you should neve lose the ball but it's still not a goal. On the right side defending we had some problems in the first half. At half-time, we repaired it.

"In the second half, Harry was better, we repaired it on the right side and we took more control of the game and if we would have been more calm and composed, we could have had a win.

"First half, they were better. They created chances but the good thing is we returned twice from losing positions. So this team, the spirit is good, the resilience is good, they showed some character.

"I think we had to repair over the right side. We didn't play well, the spaces were there. In possession, we had to bring a sub there.

"Garnacho was during the week not training. Only yesterday. We thought to bring some energy and bring some more quality, quality in the sense of cooperation and togetherness on that right-hand side."

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