Under-fire Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has labelled Marcus Rashford's birthday party after defeat in the Manchester derby “unacceptable”, and says the forward has since apologised.
Rashford attended a pre-organised celebration with friends in a private area of the Chinawhite nightclub shortly after playing 86 minutes in United's humiliating 3-0 loss to Manchester City. He arrived for training on time the next day, but was subject to scrutiny and supporters' irritation once the story broke.
Speaking to the press before United's clash with Fulham today, Ten Hag said: “I am aware of it and I spoke with him about it. It is unacceptable. I told him. He apologised and that is it.”
Ten Hag wouldn't disclose whether Rashford had been fined – calling it “an internal matter” – but denied he benched the forward in a midweek Carabao Cup game as punishment.
It wouldn't be Ten Hag’s first time sanctioning Rashford, having dropped the No.10 before a fixture at Molineux after he arrived late to a team meeting.
Following a string of poor results and growing pressure on his shoulders, Ten Hag was asked if he's struggling to land his message among the players – namely Rashford.
“Your suggestion is not right,” he said. “He's very motivated to put things right. He's totally with us.
“So he makes a mistake, but that doesn’t say he's not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he's doing. I know. Also off the pitch, how he lives.”
Rashford hat in dieser Saison bisher nur einen Treffer erzielt – gegen Arsenal im September – nachdem er in der Saison 2022/23 mit 30 Toren seinen Karrierehöchstwert erreicht hatte. Seine Leistungen stimmen mit denen der anderen Teammitglieder überein.
Now, The Telegraph report that players are starting to question Ten Hag's ruthless approach. Stripping Harry Maguire of the captaincy and exiling Jadon Sancho from the squad highlight the manager's no-nonsense approach, with both players having publicly aired their grievances about the decisions.
Aber die Frage, ob Rashford nach dem Derby hätte rausgehen oder nach Hause gehen sollen, scheint geteilte Meinungen zu haben.
Former Brighton and Palace forward Glenn Murray recently told FourFourTwo how sticking with plans after a defeat or poor performance can improve a player's psychology. He said: “As a youngster playing in League Two, I felt the pressure of wanting to score goals and be successful, and if I missed a couple of opportunities I'd beat myself up quite badly.
“I spoke to [a sports psychologist] who said, ‘Right, I want you to flip everything. If you score, keep doing what you've planned, but if you've had a bad game, deliberately plan something else: get out of the house'; It made a huge difference to me.”
Der Versuch, Rashford zu verurteilen, könnte daher ein weiteres riskantes Wagnis von Ten Hag sein.
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