After suffering defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad in their Europa League debut, 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 traveling squad included all the heavyweights with the exception of Marcus Rashford.
And in the end, United earned their first victory of the competition by posting a comfortable 2-0 victory against their Moldovan opposition.
Malacia as RB
With the exception of Rashford, the Dutch coach opted to form the same team that beat Arsenal a few weeks ago. A solid display in the first half meant the manager was able to make some changes in the second 45 minutes.
Surprisingly, towards the end of the second half, Luke Shaw entered the field as the left-back replaced by Diogo Dalot. And it was Tyrell Malacia who changed wings and ended up completing the match at right back.
Good job in Moldova. Closing the international break now ???? pic.twitter.com/gEYxdNWhyE
— Tyrell Malacia (@TyrellMalaciia) September 16, 2022
He seemed comfortable and made his usual forays forward without hesitation. And this indicates that Aaron Wan-Bissaka might not get much playing time going forward.
Dalot is the undisputed starter on that side of defense while in the Sociedad game, Victor Lindelof ended up in that role in the second half.
Will Spider’s United run end soon?
As previously reported, Wan-Bissaka was named as a substitute for the Old Trafford match but was seen in the directors’ box and did not even make the trip to Moldova.
Ten Hag doesn’t seem to rate the English defender and he just made a cameo appearance in the win against Liverpool.
Even in the Europa League, the former Crystal Palace defender has not made the bench and his chances of winning the starting spot are increasingly slim following Ten Hag’s strategy of using Malacia and Lindelof as makeshift right-backs.
“Sancho in the preparation of the goal with Bruno was in the position of center forward. We did some experiments tonight, bringing Tyrell to the right and Luke to the left, they are two good moves, we can be very capable and we need it 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 United management didn’t want to take a hit on their initial investment after Palace bid just £10m after selling him for £45m.
January could be the right time for United to bring on a new right-back, while Wan-Bissaka looks to resurrect his career elsewhere in the Premier League.
