'What does it say to Anthony Elanga?' - Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag slammed for playing Harry Maguire as a striker

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has come under fire for his unorthodox tactics against Real Sociedad on Thursday night.

Alejandro Garnacho's first senior goal was not enough for United to top their Europa League group ahead of Sociedad despite a 1-0 win in Spain.

United needed to win by a two-goal margin to leapfrog the La Liga side in their group.

Their failure to do so means Ten Hag's side will now have to play a two-legged play-off match against a team that have dropped down into the Europa League from the Champions League, instead of progressing directly to the last 16 of the competition.

In his pursuit of a second goal against Sociedad, Ten Hag opted for an unusual approach in the final few minutes of the match.

He brought on central defender Harry Maguire and played him in attack as a target man alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

While Maguire managed to get a few touches of the ball, the tactic unsurprisingly failed to pay off as Sociedad held on to secure top spot.

Former England international Dean Ashton slammed Ten Hag's decision to play Maguire as a striker.

Erik ten Hag played Harry Maguire as a striker against Real Sociedad (Image: Alamy)

Ashton said on commentary for talkSPORT: "Has Erik ten Hag worked on this on the training pitch, Harry Maguire as a centre forward?

"If he has, fair enough. But if he hasn't and it's a spur-of-the-moment thing… it's bizarre, really bizarre."

After full-time, Ashton added: "Man United have come second in their group and they've only got themselves to blame.

"Real Sociedad have done a real job on them in the second half.

Maguire was brought on to play up front in the closing minutes of the game (Image: Alamy)

"It's laughable to bring on Maguire up front at the end, what does that say to the likes of Anthony Elanga?"

United will learn who their play-off opponents are when the draw for the next round of the Europa League is held on Monday.

Up first for the Red Devils, however, is a trip to face Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.