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Erik ten Hag: Reckless Andy Carroll had no place on a football pitch

A dejected Andy Carroll of Reading walks off after being sent off during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester United and Reading - Erik ten Hag: Reckless Andy Carroll had no place on a football pitch -Erik ten Hag: Reckless Andy Carroll had no place on a football pitch - Robbie Jay Barratt/Getty Images
A dejected Andy Carroll of Reading walks off after being sent off during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester United and Reading - Erik ten Hag: Reckless Andy Carroll had no place on a football pitch -Erik ten Hag: Reckless Andy Carroll had no place on a football pitch - Robbie Jay Barratt/Getty Images

Marcel Sabitzer flew into England on Tuesday evening to complete an emergency loan move to Manchester United after Christian Eriksen was ruled out for three months following a challenge by Andy Carroll that drew condemnation from manager Erik ten Hag.

United were forced into a late swoop for the Bayern Munich midfielder Sabitzer with Eriksen expected to be sidelined until late April or early May as a result of an ankle injury caused by Reading striker Carroll’s recklessness during his side’s 3-1 FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Austria international Sabitzer, 28, who has 12 goals in 68 appearances for his country, was due to sign a straight loan deal until the end of the season with no option to buy after jetting into Manchester from Munich shortly after 8pm.

He was then driven to the club’s Carrington training base where he was expected to undergo some medical tests following positive health bulletins from Bayern as United sorted a work permit and finalised the paperwork.

United – who had been offered a series of players over the past 72 hours and enquired about the availability of a number of midfield options – moved quickly to secure a deal with Bayern after it became clear Eriksen would miss the majority of the season. His injury is a bitter setback to the club’s ambitions this season.

The Denmark playmaker had left Old Trafford on crutches after a scissor challenge from behind by Carroll, who escaped censure for that incident but was subsequently sent off for two bookable offences, the first for piling into Tyrell Malacia and the second for careering through Casemiro in the space of five minutes in the second half.

Ten Hag claimed there was no place on a football pitch for Carroll’s behaviour and called for greater protection for players.

“I'm disappointed about that,” the United manager said. “I think football has to set limits, restrictions, that protect the players. What football wants is the best players to be available on the pitch.

“This is a tackle – and the two tackles after it – that don’t belong on the football pitch, because there is a high risk of injuring your colleague. So it’s worse and I’m left wondering about that.

“I'm also wondering more, when we were at Crystal Palace, when there was an elbow on Lisandro Martinez. I don't believe there was even a whistle for a free-kick and I'm wondering about such things, because it's a risk of injury for the player.”

Asked if Carroll, the former Newcastle and Liverpool striker, had set out to try to deliberately hurt his players, Ten Hag said: “I make my view about [that]. I think it was quite clear what my thoughts were.”

Ten Hag will hope a deal for Sabitzer helps to ease the blow of losing Eriksen, particularly as United were already wrestling with injury problems in midfield. Donny van de Beek will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury and Ten Hag revealed that Scott McTominay could be out for a fortnight or longer due to a muscle injury.

Sabitzer is a versatile, technical player with a keen eye for goal, powerful shot and set-piece threat. He spent seven years at RB Leipzig before being brought to Bayern in 2021 by Julian Nagelsmann, his former coach at Leipzig, but did not always convince in a midfield two.

United have eight fixtures in February alone, starting with the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night. Ten Hag’s side hold a 3-0 lead from the first leg. Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial are due to be included in the squad.

Marcel Sabitzer Central Midfield of Bayern Munich and Austria does passed during the UEFA Champions League group C match between FC Bayern München and FC Internazionale - Erik ten Hag: Reckless Andy Carroll had no place on a football pitch - NurPhoto/Getty Images
Marcel Sabitzer Central Midfield of Bayern Munich and Austria does passed during the UEFA Champions League group C match between FC Bayern München and FC Internazionale - Erik ten Hag: Reckless Andy Carroll had no place on a football pitch - NurPhoto/Getty Images

“It [Eriksen’s injury] is of course a concern and there are things you have to deal with, you can’t do nothing for it,” Ten Hag said.

“You can set the squad but if in January is dropping out Donny for the rest of the season and Christian for the coming part of the season and also Scott McTominay is not available I think for the coming week, two weeks, maybe even longer. So we have a challenge there. The squad have a challenge.

“We have quality players there, that is obvious, but the depth is not that good any more but we as a team have to deal with that.

“Of course, he’s [Eriksen] disappointed about it, we are disappointed about it, but it happens in top football, it shouldn’t have happened but it did and you have to deal with it.

“I think you can never fill that [gap] because every player has his own characteristics, and identity, another player will always fill it in in a different way but that doesn't mean you have to be less successful.

“It’s quite clear Christian Eriksen brings top quality to our squad and especially he has some specifics that are hard to replace, for instance his impact in the final third with his final ball.”

While Sabitzer’s arrival would be a boost for United, Ten Hag said he may have to be creative at times and did not rule out using centre-back Lisandro Martinez as a midfielder on occasion, something he did at Ajax. He also expressed hope that United would see the best of Fred alongside his club and Brazil team-mate Casemiro.

Having exceeded their budget in the summer with a near £230 million outlay, Ten Hag has been reduced to low cost loan options in the January window. Netherlands striker Wout Weghorst was signed on loan from Burnley.

Ten Hag has been angling for more funds in recent weeks to strengthen his squad and said he would not be doing his job properly if he did not make such demands.

“As a manager, I think you always try to make your team better,” he said. “I wouldn’t be a good manager if I didn’t make the request. If there are opportunities, it is my job to tell the club there are opportunities to strengthen our squad and our team but it is also about financial frameworks and what is acceptable and reasonable and what do we need to fulfil our ambitions and also what doesn’t match with our policy and strategy and the phase we are in.”