Rio Ferdinand has expressed his opinion on Marcus Rashford following criticism from Erik ten Hag, Manchester United’s manager. Ten Hag had condemned Rashford for hosting a birthday party shortly after a disappointing Manchester derby defeat.
He labelled Rashford’s actions as “unacceptable” in the lead-up to their match against Fulham. Ten Hag acknowledged the incident, stating, “Yes, I’m aware of it. I spoke with him about it. It’s unacceptable. I told him, he apologised and that’s it. For us, it’s an internal matter. He’s fitting in, he’s very motivated to put things right. I know how much effort he is putting in. He’s totally with us. So he makes a mistake, but that doesn’t mean he’s not fitting in.”
“I see him every day in training, what he’s doing, so I know. He makes one mistake but also, off the pitch, I see what he’s doing, how he lives and I’m sure he’s doing everything right to help the team and to perform and to let us win.”
Following his manager’s public criticism, Rashford failed a fitness test and was unable to play in the Fulham match. Ferdinand suggested that Ten Hag might have taken disciplinary action if Rashford had been fit to play.
Ferdinand shared that he, as a former United player, would not have gone out after a significant defeat, and there were times in his career when he stayed home even when friends and family visited.
Ten Hag, in his pre-match interview, indicated that Rashford would have featured against Fulham, countering Ferdinand’s statement. These comments come at a time when Ten Hag is facing scrutiny, with reports suggesting division within the Old Trafford dressing room due to his strict approach.
Ferdinand emphasized that the responsibility for turning things around rests with the former Ajax chief, stating, “It’s more or less crisis time, I think that the manager is being questioned and scrutiny is really on him for the first time in his tenure. There’s obviously problems throughout the club from top to bottom, but the manager and the players are in the spotlight more than the others because they’re the ones out here.”
“In his press conference earlier this week, he said that the players understand his standards, but do they? Because they’re not getting to that standard, and they clearly haven’t been all season. I was just listening to him saying that they’re hard to beat, that his side are working hard, but they’re not. They’re clearly not.”
“At Manchester United, working hard is the first thing you do – and to turn a situation like this around, working hard is an absolute given. There hasn’t been enough this season for me, and Fulham will be looking at them and will believe they can put the nail in the coffin.”
Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford
This season he played in total 10 times for 847 minutes for Premier League.
Marcus Rashford scored 1 goal for Manchester United. He procured one assist. He received 1 yellow card and no red cards.
His team is currently 7th in Premier League. In the last match Manchester United won 1-0 against Fulham. The next match in Premier League will be against Luton Town.
Manchester United performance and stats
Manchester United is currently 7th in the Premier League with 18 points.
In the last 11 games, it has won 6 times and lost 5 times. In its last match, Manchester United won 0-1 against Fulham.
It has a negative goal difference after scoring 12 goals and conceding 16.
Manchester United will play the next match in Premier League against Luton Town on Saturday 11th of November in Manchester.