Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has been subject to lots of criticism this season.
Saturday’s performance against Crystal Palace led to more frustration from fans, as United fell to their fourth defeat in the league this season. We already know hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the manager’s opinions of players can change quickly. You don’t need to look far to see that with Jadon Sancho currently banished from first-team activities.
At full-time, I heard many question whether Erik ten Hag should have selected the same starting XI against Palace that knocked Roy Hodgson’s side out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night. Rashford didn’t start that game, which meant Alejandro Garnacho, a goalscorer in the 3-0 win, was dropped to the bench at the weekend.
However, Rashford wasn’t the only big name recalled to the line-up. It was expected that Bruno Fernandes would start and he did. Like many others, the captain had little impact on the game.
Everyone – fans and pundits alike – will be watching Ten Hag closely in the coming weeks to see which players he can trust going forward. Maybe it’s just a matter of dropping a few players for a couple of weeks, hoping it gives them a kick up the rear end, but that is difficult when the squad has been hit with so many injuries.
Former academy player Fraizer Campbell was providing analysis for MUTV after Saturday’s defeat when he was asked about the possibility of dropping Rashford in the upcoming games.
United’s next match is against Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Campbell believes dropping Rashford could see his mentality change, but there’s also a possibility that Ten Hag still stick with him through this rough patch. After all, this is a player who bagged 30 goals this season.
“Sometimes you get dropped out the team, you think ‘hang on a minute, I was star player last season, I did really well’, so it might change his mentality,” Campbell told MUTV, as quoted by United In Focus.
“He might train a bit harder, it might be something he needs to spur him on to play well in the next game
“He didn’t have a terrible game today, he didn’t have his best, he wasn’t involved in the game as much as you like to see him.
“You need to get him firing on all cylinders, so whether the manager takes him out the team, as the best option, or playing him through this rough period, who knows.”
Let us know in the comments section if you think Ten Hag should stick with Rashford or drop him from the starting line-up.
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