Manchester United's Tyrell Malacia was an unused substitute during the Netherlands' 1-1 draw against Ecuador on Friday. Malacia was briefly Erik ten Hag's first-choice left-back this season, but Luke Shaw fought back and he's started the majority of the games in that position, although that didn't stop the summer signing from making the Netherlands' World Cup squad.
The 23-year-old played a key role in the Netherlands' qualifying campaign for Qatar and yet he's not played a single minute at the tournament so far, with manager Louis van Gaal starting Daley Blind, who is a centre-back, at left-back instead.
Blind has started against Senegal and Ecuador and Malacia has been an unused substitute in both of those games. Van Gaal has preferred a risk-averse approach at the World Cup and that explains why Malacia is yet to make an appearance.
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Van Gaal has played five at the back and he's started Blind at left-back, while Denzel Dumfries has played at right-back. Dumfries is an attacking full-back and Van Gaal likes to have Blind on the other side of the defence to offset his runs forward.
The former United manager described his full-backs as a 'steering wheel' in September when asked about his tactics.
Van Gaal said during that international break: “The full-backs have to act like a steering wheel [gestures a steering wheel]. Look. If Dumfries goes forward, Malacia stays back. If Malacia goes forward, Dumfries stays back.”
Malacia has been named on the bench for the Netherlands' last four matches.
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