Why Garnacho and Casemiro have been dropped by Erik ten Hag | Football [Video]

Erik ten Hag has explained his decision to drop Casemiro and replace the struggling Manchester United star with fellow veteran Christian Eriksen against Southampton.

Casemiro endured a nightmare 45 minutes against Liverpool prior to the international break and suffered the ignominy of being substituted at half time after he made errors leading to two goals.

Ten Hag was at pains to defend the former Real Madrid star in his pre-match press conference and claimed the 32-year-old remained a fundamental part of his plans.

Despite that public backing, Ten Hag opted to ring the changes for the trip to St Mary’s with Eriksen handed a rare start having resisted the temptation to blood new signing Manuel Ugarte.

Speaking to TNT Sport, Ten Hag said: ‘We have a squad and we offer a lot of games, he will play I am convinced of this.’

On the surprise inclusion of Eriksen, he added: ‘He has had a good pre-season, in training he’s …