Why Erik ten Hag took Alejandro Garnacho off for Manchester United vs Liverpool

Erik ten Hag said he took Alejandro Garnacho off during Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Liverpool because he wasn't impacting the game in the way he normally can.

For the third game in a row, the teenager was taken off early and against Chelsea and Liverpool, his withdrawal has led to United's attack losing some of its edge and its threat on the break.

Garnacho was replaced 11 minutes from time at Old Trafford, with United leading 2-1, and replaced by Sofyan Amrabat. United conceded an equaliser from the penalty spot five minutes later.

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After three games in a week and a short turnaround from the game at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, Ten Hag felt Garnacho wasn't as sharp as he often is and that the defensive change would help his side see out the game.

"Today, Alejandro, [it] wasn’t his game, he wasn’t that fresh as he can usually be," he said. "He always had some decisive moments in games, [but] he was tired.

"We are winning at that moment, they went more offensive in that period, to bring more control in the centre of the midfield."

Garnacho had a goal disallowed inside the first 90 seconds when he was flagged offside from Bruno Fernandes' through ball and Ten Hag felt either the pass or run should have been delayed while explaining why his side has looked to play on the break in the last two games.

"It’s clear when we played Chelsea, play Liverpool, it will be a transition game because they are top end and both teams want to play and leave space for counters," he said.

"I thought that there were moments we could have done better reactions to defensive transitions but in general we did