Erik ten Hag decision 'proves there is big problem' behind the scenes at Man Utd

One of the main talking points from Manchester United's 0-0 gully astatine Crystal Palace was the omission of Marcus Rashford from the starting XI by Erik 10 Hag aft 3 goals successful 2 games

Alan Shearer reckons Erik 10 Hag's determination to seat Marcus Rashford indicates a behind-the-scenes contented with the Manchester United winger.

Rashford had scored his archetypal goals of the play heading into Saturday's travel to Crystal Palace, netting successful the 3-0 distant triumph astatine Southampton the week earlier and grabbing a brace successful the 7-0 Carabao Cup demolition of League One Barnsley successful midweek.

So it came arsenic a astonishment erstwhile helium recovered himself amongst the substitutes astatine Selhurst Park, coming connected for the last 30 minutes of the 0-0 gully with Palace. Alejandro Garnacho started connected the near instead, which Ten Hag claimed was purely for rotation reasons.

But Shearer and his Match of the Day workfellow Gary Lineker deliberation the United manager was bending the truth, with the superior crushed successful information being different non-football contented with Rashford, who was dropped past play aft a late-night travel to Belfast near him excessively sick to train.

Speaking connected their podcast, The Rest Is Football, Lineker began: "It looks like, speechmaking betwixt the lines, it mightiness beryllium immoderate disciplinary issues due to the fact that helium (Ten Hag) benignant of mooted that successful his property league that 'Marcus has got to beryllium professional'."

Shearer questioned: "Why other would you permission him out? When things person been criticised, and I was 1 of them, for performances, but past you get your extremity past weekend, you get different mates successful midweek.

"Why would you really adjacent contemplate leaving him out? My conjecture is, and it is simply a guess, it has to beryllium thing different." Ten Hag hinted astatine Rashford's "professionalism" not being up to scratch successful his pre-match property league past week.

"I deliberation helium ever knew, and each subordinate knows, due to the fact that erstwhile your manner is not close you can't perform," helium told reporters. "You don't get the close levels erstwhile you don't person a bully and disciplined beingness distant from Carrington.

"Probably helium needed immoderate help, by backing him for instance. At the extremity of the day, helium has to bash it by himself. He has to acceptable his beingness right, his grooming cognition right, his lucifer cognition right. When helium sets his professionalism, helium volition execute due to the fact that helium is simply a people player."

But speaking to Sky Sports up of kick-off, helium towed a antithetic enactment and enactment the benching down to a request for caller legs. The games are coming heavy and accelerated for United with the Europa League getting underway this week, meaning they've got 4 matches successful the abstraction of 12 days earlier the adjacent planetary break.

"It was not hard [to driblet him] due to the fact that we request to rotate," Ten Hag insisted. "Because we person galore games to screen and we person to springiness Alejandro games - and arsenic we person each seen, helium has specified a batch of extremity product, scored truthful galore goals, truthful galore assists, but often arsenic a sub. Also needs starts - he's had conscionable 1 commencement this season."

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