ETH says Ugarte needs time but it's hard to develop if he's not playing...

ERIK ten Hag's decision to drop the two central defenders he had worked with previously and pushed to be reunited with at Old Trafford attracted plenty of attention this week, but it wasn't his only surprising selection call.

- TYRONE MARSHALL

Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez were signed to form a firstchoice central defensive pairing at United, but they struggled horribly in the 3-3 draw at Porto.

Although their absence from the starting XI against Aston Villa was put down to rotation, it was clear both had been dropped.

The problem with Ten Hag's current claim that every selection call is down to rotation is that it simply doesn't stack up. Central defenders are rarely rotated, and while the wingers are in and out of the team every week, Bruno Fernandes plays when available.

Then there is the case of 32-yearold Christian Eriksen, who played 90 minutes in Porto on Thursday and then 90 minutes in the Midlands on Sunday before heading away with Denmark on international duty. But there was a reason Eriksen was forced into action twice in four days. That was because Manuel Ugarte, a summer signing recruited specifically to fill the problematic holding midfield position, was an unused substitute across the two games that were set to decide Ten Hag's future. It felt like a telling call from the manager.