Erik Ten Hag dismisses Jamie Redknapp’s Marcus Rashford speculation as ‘crazy’

In the latest instalment of Erik ten Hag’s running battles with the Premier League’s pundit class, the Manchester United manager called out Jamie Redknapp’s assertion on Sky that something “untoward” had gone on between him and dropped forward Marcus Rashford as “crazy”. Only for the former player to come back in for a second attempt after the manager’s comments.

In the wake of United’s goalless draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday, Redknapp told Sky Sports: “It feels like something has gone untoward [between coach and player]. I don’t know, obviously, the details, but you don’t drop a player that’s just scored two in midweek [against Barnsley], he scored against Southampton.

“I’d be nervous to say he’s back, but he’s certainly showing signs of the energy we saw [from] Marcus Rashford of two years ago.

“It feels like something has maybe happened this week. It’s unusual for a manager to come out and almost out a player by talking about their lifestyle. I always think about the great Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson: he’d very rarely do that, he would never do it. Whereas Ten Hag will do it on occasions and it’s not always beneficial to the player.”

The references to lifestyle come after Ten Hag said earlier in the season that Rashford lacked professionalism last term, adding that “when he sets his professionalism he will perform because he is a class player”.

Rashford did not start against Palace, only coming on after the hour mark.

But coming back to Redknapp’s comments, the Dutch coach said: “I heard already speculation [about Rashford] from some pundits. That is crazy. I would almost say that, as a person, you are not okay when you bring such speculation if you don’t know.

“This is just rotation. We have many games to cover. We have more than a starting 11 of players. If the players perform, we will give them their chances. Finally we will find out, of course, the players who perform better will play more.

“I’m very happy with Marcus, with everything. With his defending part, offensive, he scores in this moment. He performs very good. So there is nothing to do with it that he was on the bench, just rotation.”

Not willing to let it go, Redknapp again spoke to the issue on Sky after Ten Hag had spoken. “It is a fascinating one today with Marcus Rashford,” he continued. “We thought he was turning a corner scoring a couple of goals, getting a couple in midweek and one at the weekend.

“I thought momentum is starting to build and getting that confidence and he gets left out today. There is that little bit of a cloud over him. I don’t think that is ideal for the club because the manager – every single press conference he is having is going to be about Marcus Rashford.”

Redknapp added that players need to “dedicate your life to football”.

United next take the field against FC Twente on Wednesday night in the Europa League. We will discover then if Ten Hag’s “rotation” policy has Rashford starting again.