Ten Hag slammed for his treatment of Sofyan Amrabat

Carlo Garganese

• 4 Oct 2023 18:22 BST
• 3 min read

Erik ten Hag has been slammed for his misuse of Sofyan Amrabat this season.

Amrabat joined Manchester United from Fiorentina this past summer for an £8 million loan fee with the option to make the deal permanent for £21.4m.

The Moroccan established himself as one of Europe’s most admired central midfielders at Fiorentina last season, with Barcelona and Chelsea also trying to sign him earlier this year.

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However, after recovering from injury upon joining Man Utd, Amrabat has bizarrely been played at left-back by Erik ten Hag amidst an injury crisis in the position.

Unsurprisingly, Amrabat has struggled in the role and he was especially poor in the 3-2 home defeat by Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday.

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Ten Hag’s decision to play Amrabat out of position has been heavily criticised by fans and journalists.

ESPN pundit Craig Burley was particularly scathing of how Ten Hag is misusing Amrabat.

“Why is Amrabat still playing at left back?,” Burley asked.

“Just play Maguire at centre back alongside Varane, move Dalot to left back because he can play there and move Lindelof to right back.

“You’re not going to get much going forward but at least you shore up the midfield.

“At the moment Man Utd can’t keep a clean sheet against anyone.

“How do you think Amrabat feels having to come into a horrible team in a horrible position?

“He gets himself into bad positions [on Galatasaray’s second and third goals]. The manager has to take blame here as well.”

Amrabat at Fiorentina in 2022-23

Amrabat enjoyed a brilliant 2022-23 season, playing a pivotal role in Fiorentina reaching two cup finals; the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Amrabat was arguably the best midfielder at World Cup 2022, playing a crucial role for a Morocco team that stunned everyone in reaching the quarter-finals

The 27-year-old produced a series of dominant performances in the centre of midfield as Morocco knocked out Belgium from the group stages, and then Spain in the last-16 and Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Morocco were finally beaten in the semis by France, before losing the third and fourth place playoff to Croatia.