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The lid of the “ketchup” bottle initially came off in United’s 3-0 Premier League win at Southampton three days earlier as Rashford snapped a 13-game scoreless streak, and in the Barnsley game, he played with a smile on his face for the first time in what feels like forever. As Ten Hag alluded to, something wasn’t right for Rashford off the pitch last season, but the 26-year-old offered a timely reminder of what he can do when his head is in the game.
Rashford could have built some proper momentum from there. Unfortunately, nothing is that simple under Ten Hag. Instead of heading to Crystal Palace – the scene of United’s worst performance in 2023-24 – with a resurgent Rashford leading the line, Ten Hag opted to drop him to the bench.
The Red Devils then played out a 0-0 draw that did more early damage to their top-four ambitions. It was yet another example of Ten Hag’s baffling decision-making preventing any real progress, and Rashford had every right to look as frustrated and disillusioned as he did whenever the television cameras panned to the dugout.
‘Ate them alive’
United could have been at least three goals up at half-time if they’d been more ruthless. Alejandro Garnacho, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Bruno Fernandes were all guilty of spurning good opportunities, and inevitably, Palace upped their game in the second period.
When Rashford eventually came on for Joshua Zirkzee in the 61st minute, the hosts had moved into the ascendency, and in the end, United were lucky to escape with a point as Andre Onana was forced into some heroic goalkeeping.
“We should have won. In the first half, we ate them alive,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports after the game. “The only thing was in the box, that is where the game is always decided. We should be more clinical there.”
Rashford could have provided that clinical edge. It would have made sense to drop the England international in any of United’s first three games of the campaign, when he was clearly still struggling, but Ten Hag waited until he found form to make that call. The question on everyone’s lips after the disappointing stalemate at Selhurst Park was simply: ‘Why?’
Backwards logic
Former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp was among those to question Ten Hag’s logic, as he said in the Sky Sports studio: “It feels like something has gone untoward. Obviously I don’t know the details, but you don’t drop a player that’s just scored two in midweek and scored against Southampton. It feels something has happened this week. It’s unusual for a manager to come out and almost out a player by talking about their lifestyle. Sir Alex Ferguson would never do it, whereas Ten Hag will do it on occasions and it’s not always beneficial to the player.”
Redknapp’s assessment was a fair one, given the fact Rashford has had his share of disciplinary problems at Old Trafford in recent times. But as Ten Hag has so often done when it comes to pundit opinions, he took it as a personal attack.
“That’s crazy. I would almost say that you as a person you are not okay when you bring such speculation if you don’t know what’s (going) on,” Ten Hag said in response to Redknapp. “This is just rotation. We have many games to cover and more than 11 players, but we have to give all the players their chances if they perform. Finally we will find out and the players who perform better will play more.
“But this has nothing to do (with Rashford). I am very happy with Marcus with everything – his defending, his offensive part. He scores in this moment, he performs very good. So nothing to do with him being on the bench, just rotation.”
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Can’t build trust
Rashford is not the first victim of Ten Hag’s contradictions, and he won’t be the last. The Dutchman also heavily hinted at giving Jadon Sancho a clean slate after burying their long-running feud, only to omit the winger from his early-season plans and ultimately green-light his departure to Chelsea.
Elsewhere, Ten Hag described £85 million flop Antony as an “unstoppable” player when the Brazilian’s dire form was pointed out in February, and he’s barely started a game since. Ten Hag recently admitted that Antony must “fight” to return to his line up, raising doubts over the Brazil winger’s long-term future at the club. These mixed messages are counter-productive when it comes to building trust in a dressing room.
United won’t start climbing back up towards the Champions League places unless everyone is pulling in the same direction, but Ten Hag seems ill-equipped to maintain a proper sense of harmony. It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if Rashford now reverted to the disruptive figure he was last term after being knocked off his stride without any warning.
Getty Images SportMaking same mistakes
According to the Daily Mail, Rashford also disagrees with Ten Hag’s claims that his lifestyle led to the massive fall in his numbers in the final third. The United academy graduate feels he has been hampered by being asked to do more work defensively in the absence of Luke Shaw, who missed the majority of the 2023-24 campaign through injury and has yet to play this season due to a new calf issue.
This is the other major downside of speaking about your players in public: reporters will always look to find out the other side of the story. Ten Hag brings the speculation that he hates so much on himself.
Gary Lineker pointed out that flaw in Ten Hag’s approach last December, at a time when Sancho had been exiled from the United squad. “I don’t think he’s handled brilliantly situations with various players now,” the England legend said on ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast. “He’s had a lot to deal with but he’s repeatedly been critical openly and publicly and that’s the one thing that was always, even when I played, unacceptable. You could take any kind of b*llocking in the dressing room, but the minute a manager puts you down publicly, that is a no-no.”
Some nine months on, Ten Hag is still making the same mistakes. Sometimes criticism can spark a positive reaction, but only if there is mutual respect. Unfortunately, the former Ajax manager inspires confusion rather than confidence, and as a consequence, it always seems like a new crisis is waiting around the corner for United.
GettyMuddled planning
On the plus side, though, the Red Devils have looked like a more cohesive unit on the pitch so far this season, if you discount the shocking performance against Liverpool at home. Ten Hag’s side have now recorded three clean sheets on the bounce for the first time since January 2023, and the defensive improvement was clear against Palace.
Diogo Dalot, who is now filling in for Shaw at left-back, moved into midfield to support Kobbie Mainoo, which also allowed Christian Eriksen to push forward and sprinkle his magic. Lisandro Martinez and De Ligt have already forged a strong partnership at centre-back, too, and Noussair Mazraoui is proving to be a major upgrade on Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right side of the defence.
However, United’s final signing of the summer transfer window, Manuel Ugarte, had to make do with another cameo appearance from the bench, and it’s worrying that the Uruguayan has not just slotted straight into the starting XI after his £51m ($60m) move from Paris Saint-Germain. That’s a hefty investment for a squad player, which he may end up being now that Ten Hag has stumbled on another way to ensure United are no longer overrun in the centre of the pitch.
That money could been spent on another striker, perhaps former Brentford star Ivan Toney, who ended up moving to Saudi Arabia for a similar fee. Toney could have given United something different upfront and provided much-needed competition for Rasmus Hojlund, who looked rusty on his return from injury at Selhurst Park. A lack of goals is now United’s biggest problem, and that’s a consequence of Ten Hag’s muddled planning.
Getty Images SportWhat’s next?
The Red Devils now have four vital games to prepare for before the next international break, starting with a home clash against Twente on Wednesday as they kick-off their Europa League campaign, followed by the visit of Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday. Attention will then turn to tricky-looking away trips to Porto and Aston Villa in the space of three days.
Victory over Palace would have put United in a much better position, but now there is no margin for error in their next two league outings. If they fail to pick up at least four points, their season will already be on the verge of unravelling, which would be a damning indictment of Ten Hag.
Questions over the manager’s future are still raging in the background constantly. Ten Hag says he feels the backing of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, but the atmosphere surrounding Old Trafford is now one of doubt.
It still doesn’t feel like United are moving forward on Ten Hag’s watch, and expectations have rarely been this low at the biggest club in English football. A change in the hot seat might not be on the cards just yet, but if Ten Hag wants to stop just delaying the inevitable, he has to put more thought into his decisions and give the players a reason to start believing in him.
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