Erik ten Hag's Man Utd error compounded as 'best player at Euro 2024' is named

Former Manchester United loanee Marcel Sabitzer has been branded the Euro 2024 "player of the tournament so far", having starred for Austria.

Sabitzer has chipped in with two goal contributions as Austria finished top of their group, ahead of France and the Netherlands, and Germany legend Lothar Matthaus has been hugely impressed by his performances.

"My player of the tournament so far is Marcel Sabitzer," he wrote in a column for Sport.de. "I saw him live in Berlin during Austria's 3-2 win over Holland. His speed, his lightness, his finesse, the way he uses his teammates, the way he works in the back, the speed with which he plays forward - I've hardly seen him like this in Dortmund.

"Sabitzer stands out in this impressive Austrian team. They finished ahead of France and the Netherlands and weren't the worst team in the 1-0 defeat to France. This team does and executes what the Dutch and French do not: Speed on and off the ball.

"This is Ralf Rangnick's style. What is striking is that even the players from the Austrian league, who have little international experience, are convincing. That's fun." Sabitzer joined United on loan from Bayern Munich last year as injury cover for Christian Eriksen.

He impressed during his brief time at the club, but Erik ten Hag and co. decided against making his move permanent and Sabitzer ended up joining Borussia Dortmund instead. Reflecting on his time at Old Trafford, Sabitzer told the Athletic: "I went straight into the deep end after that tricky time at Bayern.

"I felt very good on the pitch and regained my confidence, I realised that I still had it and, despite not having that rhythm that comes with regular starts, I showed that I could still do it at that level.

"It helped me a lot. Physically, mentally and football-wise, I'm very happy with how the last 10, 11 months have gone. I feel very positive about my time there and still talk to a couple of people. You ask yourself, 'What's going on?'

Marcel Sabitzer

"There's a lot of noise, results are not good, they've had defeats at home, which almost felt unthinkable last season... You can see what that does to a team. I feel sorry for them because they're all good guys, and extremely hungry for success."

Sabitzer was hoping to stay at United after his loan spell ended, but revealed a knee injury and "a few other things" dashed those hopes. "I already picked up the injury two weeks into my stay and then played through the pain because I wanted to make it work," he explained.

"But at one point, I couldn't go on any more and had to have surgery. I couldn't be happier at Dortmund [though] and feel that I'm exactly at the right place right now. I feel the support of the whole club. You need that to perform well."

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