Rio Ferdinand accuses Erik ten Hag of ‘confusing’ Manchester United star

Rio Ferdinand has criticised Erik ten Hag for ‘confusing’ Marcus Rashford by benching him for Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Crystal Palace.

Rashford has endured a difficult period at Old Trafford but found the back of the net for the first time since March in last weekend’s victory over Southampton.

The 26-year-old then scored twice in the midweek Carabao Cup clash with Barnsley before being left out of United’s starting line-up for the trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday.

Ten Hag said Rashford’s omission – he came off the bench for the final half an hour – was simply for rotation but ex-Premier League star Jamie Redknapp suspected more was at play.

The United boss dismissed Redknapp’s ‘crazy’ theory but Ferdinand too was baffled by the decision and said it would have ‘confused’ Rashford following his upturn in form.

‘Talking of rotation, following the game against Palace, Man United are third in terms of xG, only bettered by Man City and Liverpool,’ he said on his YouTube channel.

‘So they’re creating the chances but not scoring the goals. When you’ve got a man in form like Marcus Rashford, who’s coming into a bit of form and momentum which is key for any player and their confidence, I’m thinking is it the right time now to rotate?

‘We’re creating chances and you take out the guy who is actually starting to score. I just look at that and think, wow.

‘It was pleasing to see the manager come out and say it was rotation, nothing else, because there was some murmurings around it.

‘But Marcus Rashford man, I think he will be sitting there thinking “I’ve just hit a bit of form and they’ve taken me out.” That confuses me, it’s confusing.

‘But then again [Alejandro] Garnacho has been one of the most productive players and has been causing havoc. And Amad Diallo is playing well. So it’s a hard one.’

Explaining his decision to bench Rashford, Manchester United boss Ten Hag said: ‘I heard already speculation from some pundits. That is crazy.

‘I would almost say that, as a person, you are not OK 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 and the players who perform better will play more. This has nothing to do. 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.’

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