‘He is out the door’ – Sherwood blasts Ten Hag for treatment of Man Utd star despite MOTM displays
Tim Sherwood thinks Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been harsh on Hannibal Mejbri after being dropped for players who “stroll around the pitch”.
The Tunisia international has made four appearances in all competitions this season with two of those coming in the Premier League.
Hannibal spent last season on loan at Birmingham City with the successful experience helping him secure a place in Ten Hag’s first-team squad this campaign.
The 20-year-old has started for Ten Hag in three of his four appearances and Sherwood thinks the Man Utd manager should’ve kept him in the side rather than replacing him with senior players in the following matches.
Sherwood said on Sky Sports News: “He seems to pick superstars. £50m, £70m, £100m players – he throws them onto the pitch and hopes one of them does something to get him out the mire.
“Say what you want about him (Hannibal) and people will say, ‘He’s not a £100m player, he’s not this or that’ – but he went to Birmingham, worked hard on loan there, he came back and for me, he was Man of the Match in a couple of games.
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“But as soon as someone else is fit, he is out the door. Sit on the bench, son. Someone else comes in and strolls around the pitch, doesn’t want to run around or get the ball back.”
Earlier this month, Sherwood was equally as high on the young Man Utd midfielder, he said: “Hannibal has started a few games a couple of weeks ago, he was their best player.
“Why? Because he wanted to run around, he wanted to tackle. Someone like Bruno, who I think is a fantastic player, and Marcus Rashford, who is from the academy, they need to look at some of these kids who are coming in, who really appreciate the opportunity to get onto the pitch.
“They need to start pulling their finger out.”
Hannibal played the full 90 minutes in their 1-0 win over Burnley in September and Man Utd boss Ten Hag praised the Tunisian for his “perfect” performance.
Ten Hag told TNT Sports at the time when asked about injuries: “Of course it’s a concern. You have so many injuries, you have a problem in the routine of your game.
“You bring players in, they are new – like Reguilon, like Hojlund and you can’t bring them in slowly in the routines of your team. They are not used to playing together, like Hannibal who did a perfect job.”
