More drama at Manchester United as Erik ten Hag has responded in a cryptic way over Marcus Rashford’s continued absence.
The 26-year-old is not having the best year at the club like many of his teammates. As usual, he has come under fire from the media and the fans for underperforming. He has also dealt with a few fitness issues.
He was said to have called in sick to the club ahead of their FA Cup meeting with English fourth division side Newport County at their Rodney Parade home ground in South Wales. The player’s call came after he was seen and photographed partying in Belfast, Northern Ireland an evening before.
Following a hard-fought 2-4 win over their hosts, who are 16th in League Two to progress to the next round of the tournament, questions were asked about Rashford’s absence and if it was linked to the party he was seen at.
“He reported ill,” United boss ten Hag said in response after watching his side fight to win against the lower division team. “The rest is an internal matter. I will deal with it, we will deal with it.”
This response suggests that the England international, who is currently United’s highest paid at £375,000-per-week, went to the Belfast event outside the knowledge of the manager.
This also brings to mind the comments made by ten Hag after a few months at the club, where he complained about a poor culture and indiscipline.
The reporters prodded further to know if Rashford was one of the undisciplined squad members; a question which he deflected in order to return the focus to their win against Newport County.
“I don’t go in this case. We talked before about it, we played a good game, and now we move on,” ten Hag said.
On United’s performance which saw them score two in the first 13 minutes, lose the lead and fight to score two more to snatch victory from the jaws of looking defeat, the former AFC Ajax Amsterdam manager said: “The first 35 minutes it was very dominant. We did not give the opponent any chance and should have been three, four, five-nil up.
“Out of nothing they score a goal and straight after half-time again. We have to be critical of bad defending in transition. Poor defending from the cross, it’s 2-2, and they turned it around.
“But you see how resilient we are. We stayed calm, went back in our game, got the third and fourth goal, so job done.”
