Man Utd: Former England striker warns Erik Ten Hag ‘Garnacho has to start’ over Marcus Rashford

Ex-England striker Darren Bent believes Marcus Rashford must be dropped for Alejandro Garnacho after their disappointing 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday.

Brighton took the lead through Danny Welbeck but was cancelled out by Amad Diallo in the 60th minute.

20-year-old Argentinian winger Garnacho netted only for it to be cancelled out for offside after new signing Joshua Zirkzee made contact with the ball on the line with his knee.

The Seagulls punished the Red Devils with Joao Pedro scoring a late winner 5 minutes into added time. Despite this, Bent believes Garnacho has earned his place over Rashford.

“Garnacho has got to start”, Bent said on the TalkSPORT Monday show. “Now if that means leaving out Rashford then so be it.

“Diallo and Garnacho, the way they run directly and that link-up play they had with Zirkzee that second half, that would be the three that I would play”.

Rashford has been under fire from fans and critics over the last few years but made three assists and seven goals in 43 appearances last season while Garnacho contributed with seven goals and four assists in 50 games and he started 41 of those matches.

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Bent added: “Erik Ten Hag can only protect Rashford for so long. I’ve given you every opportunity to succeed.

“Even though you’ve not been playing well for a while now, I’m still continually picking you over Garnacho.

“I saw Garnacho in the Community Shield final come and change the game. It was incredible.

“I saw him when he came on, I know he should have scored against Fulham, but the energy to get up, again, scored. Unlucky Zirkzee was in the way.”

The 26-year-old English winger was dropped from the Euro 2024 squad due to his poor form even though he was a guaranteed starter in Manchester United’s attack last season and has been this season, with Diallo and Bruno Fernandes forming the attacking front three.

“He is ready to go chomping at the bit. As a manager I get it, you’re trying to be loyal, and give Rashford every opportunity to find his form again,” Bent continued.

“But you risk losing Garnacho if you keep overlooking him by starting him. Garnacho, in the end is like any other professional sportsman, they’re going to start to get annoyed.”

Another viewpoint about Manchester United’s situation comes from Louis Saha.

When asked what changes he would make to the Man Utd starting XI against Liverpool, Saha told Betfred: “It would be nice to see Joshua Zirkzee start. He’s a player that’s very interesting and gets involved in the right places. I’d like to see his game improve with more minutes and confidence.

“Mason Mount has been very active but from an attacking midfielder, that’s not enough. He needs to push himself more because there are players on the bench waiting to take his place. For Sunday’s game though, I’d definitely like to see a striker up top because even though the false nine works sometimes in terms of pressing, that’s not the mission. The mission is to score goals.”