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A former Red Devil believes the Norwegian’s confidence in Harry Maguire is holding back a center-back who has been pushing for a regular spot on the team.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s treatment of Axel Tuanzebe has been questioned by Paul Parker, who says eliminating Manchester United’s defender against Istanbul Basaksehir could end up being a “gigantic mistake”.
Tuanzebe returned to United’s starting eleven after 10 months on the sidelines due to injury for the Champions League clash in Paris Saint-Germain on 20 October.
The 22-year-old showed no signs of rust as he kept players like Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Angel Di Maria quiet for the 90 minutes, helping the Red Devils emerge with an impressive 2-1 victory.
Despite that stellar performance, the center-back was named to the bench in subsequent games against Chelsea, RB Leipzig and Arsenal, with Solskjaer returning to his first-choice defensive partner of Maguire and Victor Lindelof.
Tuanzebe finally got another chance to prove themselves in United’s last European outing as they traveled to Turkey in search of extending their perfect Group H record against an Istanbul Basaksehir side that had lost their first two matches.
The former England Under-21 international had a night to forget when Solskjaer watched his team concede two soft goals in the first half, prompting him to shuffle his package at half-time.
Scott McTominay replaced Tuanzebe in the second half, but the Red Devils still lost 2-1, and Parker was frustrated by the fact that Maguire was allowed to stay despite his apparent failure in team organization.
The former United star believes that Solskjaer’s decision to remove Tuanzebe early could affect his long-term development, as he said. Eurosport: “Everyone is going to make mistakes, but what matters most is the form of the mistake. Fergie would scream and scream if there was a mistake, but she would realize how it had happened.
“Getting caught like this so early in the game is amazing. When you pay such large sums for players, like Harry Maguire, you expect them to think for themselves and organize the side. Maguire didn’t do that.
“In the third phase of the game, when the attack stopped, you wonder why Maguire didn’t tell Axel Tuanzebe to back off.
“You wonder if Henderson yelled at Nemanja Matic to warn him of the danger. Why didn’t any of those things happen? A mistake like that has never happened when David de Gea has been in goal.
“United weren’t betting to score, it was bad communication. The team looks for leadership from their captain, especially one who is a central defender.
“I am concerned about Tuanzebe and how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has treated him. He had a great game against Paris Saint-Germain, then he had no participation until the next Champions League game.
“He had another chance last night and then they dragged him away. I’d be worried how that will affect him mentally. You might wonder why he was substituted when he wasn’t at fault for the goal, and I’d be looking at the £ 80 million Captain next to him.
“Removing Tuanzebe could be a huge mistake in the long run.”
