The forward was heavily criticised for his display against Newcastle (Picture: Getty)
Erik ten Hag has explained his decision to drop Marcus Rashford to the bench for Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Chelsea on Wednesday evening.
The forward was singled out for criticism after a lacklustre display in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park, with his lack of work rate – especially after not having played in midweek against Galatasaray – a particular bone of contention.
Rashford has been desperately out of form all season and has only managed to net twice in the Premier League, one of which was a penalty against Everton given to him by skipper Bruno Fernandes in an effort to boost his struggling confidence.
Although Ten Hag defended Rashford’s effort levels before the visit of Chelsea, he opted to leave the 26-year-old out of the starting XI at Old Trafford with a front three of Antony, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund preferred instead.
Despite the team selection appearing to be a reaction to the poor display at Newcastle, Ten Hag insisted it was no slight on Rashford and was simply a case of shuffling his pack amid an intense run of games.
Asked if Rashford’s absence from the starting XI was down to a perceived lack of commitment, Ten Hag told Amazon Prime Video: ‘No, we played bad as a team so we can’t blame individuals for that.
Rashford only has three goal involvements this season (Picture: Getty)
‘It’s part of rotation, and I think we have a very good, energised frontline. Everyone has to be ready and we do it as a team, as a dressing room.’
Anthony Martial, another player criticised for his display at St James’ Park, also drops to the bench, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and youngster Kobbie Mainoo also replaced in the starting XI.
Another eyebrow-raising decision saw Raphael Varane left out of the squad entirely, with Jonny Evans on the bench instead, with United saying the Frenchman was suffering from a sore back.
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Asked what he has told his players ahead of facing Chelsea, Ten Hag replied: ‘In one week, six days, we had two very good performances [against Everton and Galatasaray] and on Saturday it was a bad performance, so we have to put this right.
‘We showed [what we need to do] in the two performances before, where we played very good, in and out of possession.’
Chelsea, meanwhile, make several changes for the trip to St James’ Park, with Axel Disasi preferred to Reece James at right-back, while the west Londoners are also without the suspended Conor Gallagher.
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