Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag explains dropping Marcus Rashford for Chelsea clash
Ten Hag demands improvements from Man Utd squad against Chelsea
Erik ten Hag insists that Marcus Rashford has been dropped from Manchester United’s first team for their midweek clash against Chelsea for “rotational” reasons alone. The Englishman, who has started all 13 of United’s Premier League matches this season, has been confined to the bench for Wednesday’s game following another poor display against Newcastle at the weekend.
But Ten Hag claims that Rashford’s form has nothing to do with his decision. “No, we played bad as a team so we can’t blame individuals for it,” he said.
“So it’s part of the rotation. I think we have a very good, energised frontline, everyone has to be ready as we do it as a team and as a dressing room.”
Rashford was subbed off in the 62nd minute for Antony after failing to make an impact on Saturday as United fell to their sixth Premier League defeat of the season at St James’ Park. The Englishman threw down his gloves in disgust when he saw his number flash up on the substitutes board but in truth, he had no grounds for complaint.
He was barely involved in the game and completed just one successful progressive pass during his entire 62-minute cameo. Most of his passes were backwards yet he still only completed 11 out of 17 of them.
Pressed on what he thought of Rashford’s performance after the game, Ten Hag replied: “I’ll talk to him [about his performance] and not with the media.”
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He added: “We had a tough first half and said at half-time we were pleased to be in the game. We had a good comeback in the last part of the game. We will talk tomorrow with the team about it. We go back, we will talk about this and move in to Wednesday.”
Antony starts on the left flank in Rashford’s place while Rasmus Hojlund starts ahead of Anthony Martial, who was also substituted at the same time as his Rashford last weekend. Alejandro Garnacho keeps his place on the right and Bruno Fernandes starts in the central attacking midfield role once again.
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