Erik ten Hag has explained his decision to storm onto the touchline and berate Anthony Martial during Manchester United’s loss at Newcastle.
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The Frenchman hugely struggled at St James’ Park and was replaced in the second half by Rasmus Hojlund after just 61 minutes.
It has been a poor season for Martial, who has managed just one goal and one assist in 12 Premier League matches.
Ten Hag was seen screaming at the player during Saturday’s clash – with Martial arguing back – and the Dutchman spoke about the incident in his post-match press conference.
‘It’s not about Antony Martial,’ Ten Hag said. ‘It’s about the team. I tried to energise the team, to get a reaction from the team.
‘In this moment, we had a tough period. When you are coaching you are a little bit more aggressive and that is normal.’
It is the second lacklustre showing in a row from Martial, who was slammed by United legend Peter Schmeichel after the 3-3 draw against Galatasaray.
‘You have to look at players like when Hojlund came off, a lot of the pressure from the very, very front disappeared,’ Schmeichel told CBS Sports.
‘The guy he [Ten Hag] put in doesn’t do anything, where you had before someone who works really, really hard for the team up front all of a sudden you don’t have that pressure.
‘And that gives the other team a lot of opportunities to pass the ball around.’
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