Rio Ferdinand baffled by two Erik ten Hag decisions that left one Man Utd star shaking his head in disbelief

Garnacho was replaced five minutes before the collapse began (Picture: Getty)

Rio Ferdinand has questioned Erik ten Hag’s decision to take off Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo during Manchester United’s FA Cup win over Coventry City.

Having been cruising to a 3-0 win, United surrendered three goals in the final 20 minutes before scraping through on penalties on Sunday to set up a final against Manchester City next month.

Goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes had the Premier League side in full control with ten Hag opting to make changes shortly after their third goal.

Alejandro Garnacho, who was replaced at half-time last week against Bournemouth was replaced by Antony after 66 minutes. Mainoo followed next with Christian Eriksen onto replace him moments after Ellis Simms have pulled back Coventry’s first goal.

United completely fell apart with no control in midfield with Marcus Rashford and Antony offering no attacking outlet down the wings with their side under constant pressure.

Mainoo also made way as United lost control (Picture: Getty)

And former United defender Ferdinand was baffled by ten Hag’s decision to take off his ‘hungry’ young players.

‘I was in a bad way during that game, 3-1, 3-2 and then 3-3, and then they got the winner and VAR saved us,’ Ferdinand told FIVE when leaving Wembley.

‘It saved us, we feel lucky man but that’s the way it is, we get to the final and hopefully we win now.

‘Garnacho can’t be coming off of the pitch, Kobbie Mainoo coming off early – you’ve got young hungry guys.’

Garnacho was visibly frustrated as he left the pitch midway through the second-half – with his replacement Antony offering little during his time at the pitch before taunting Coventry at the end of the match.

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After being subbed at half-time against Bournemouth last week, the Argentine’s official X account liked tweets from United YouTuber Mark Goldbridge which questioned ten Hag’s substitution decisions.

The 19-year-old later unliked the posts with ten Hag revealing his player had apologised for the social media activity.

‘Alejandro is a young player, he has to learn a lot,’ ten Hag said. ‘He apologised for it and after that we move on.’

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