Man Utd verdict: Malacia and Dalot being run ragged by Foden and Grealish will have Ten Hag questioning £220m spend
ERIK TEN HAG oversaw a spending spree worth almost £220 million in his first summer in charge at Manchester United.
But only £14.6 million of that was on full-backs – in the shape of Feyenoord youngster Tyrell Malacia.
And during a torrid first half for his team at the Etihad against the rampant champions, the new boss must surely have been regretting it as his team were torn apart down the flanks.
To be fair, Dutch youngster Malacia and Diogo Dalot have done well enough during the Red Devils four game winning streak.
Had they been able to shift Aaron Wan-Bissaka before the transfer deadline then they may have got the cheque book out for a replacement.
Ten Hag might wish he had done now – as the pair he chose here were unable to prevent Jack Grealish and Phil Foden running riot.
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Their performance must have had Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate licking his lips with the World Cup just seven weeks away.
But not all the defenders in Qatar will be this accommodating.
And you can be sure they will not get this much space against any of the nations they face in the Middle East.
It didn’t help that the United pair spent most of the game walking a tight-rope after picking up yellow cards early on.
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Dalot’s came within two minutes as he scythed down Grealish out on the wing.
Malacia was not far behind him in going into Michael Oliver’s notebook as he dragged back Foden who was revelling down the right side.
From then on it was always going to be a difficult afternoon for the two of them – knowing one more wrong move could see them red-carded.
Grealish seems to have taken huge confidence from his performance at Wolves before the break while Foden did some serious damage on the right.
Just before the break, City’s third goal came from De Bruyne’s cross from Malacia’s wing while the former Feyenoord man could not keep with Foden as he got the fourth.
He would have been relieved to hear his manager tell him he was not going back out for the second half – with Luke Shaw replacing him.
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Dalot – who presumably only stayed on as there were no other right-backs on the bench – would have been thankful to see the back of Foden and Grealish who were both off 15 minutes from time.
By then, Foden had a share of the match-ball and City already had six. United’s humiliation was well and truly complete.
