Scholes slams Ten Hag hogwash after Man Utd boss blasted ‘crazy’ Redknapp comments

Man Utd legend Paul Scholes thinks Erik ten Hag’s decision to leave Marcus Rashford out against Crystal Palace was a “strange one”.

Rashford has struggled to recapture the form that saw him score 30 goals in all competitions in the 2022/23 season with the England international hitting the back of the net just eight times last term.

His form had shown an uptick over the last week or so, though, with Rashford scoring three goals in two matches against Southampton and Barnsley ahead of the Red Devils’ trip to Crystal Palace – but Ten Hag bizarrely chose to leave the in-form Man Utd forward on the bench at Selhurst Park.

Jamie Redknapp claimed that something “untoward” must have happened for Rashford not to start for Man Utd but Ten Hag called his comments “crazy” .

However, Scholes was just as baffled as Redknapp as to why Rashford had been dropped for the match against Palace, while he raised huge doubts over the Man Utd forward line in general.

Scholes said on The Overlap : “Manchester United are struggling going forward – they’re struggling for goals. They’ve scored five goals and three of them were against Southampton, that probably tells you the forwards just aren’t good enough.

“Leaving Marcus Rashford out on Saturday was a strange one – he’s not scored for such a long time and suddenly, he comes and scores three goals in two games and he’s not playing. He [Erik ten Hag] said it was rotation – come on, do me a favour.

“Alejandro Garnacho is a threat but he’s not the end article and we don’t have that finished article in any of the forward areas, apart from Marcus Rashford who’s had a tough time. Bruno [Fernandes] will score you goals, but they don’t have the centre-forward [that they need].

“Amad Diallo is a little bit like Garnacho – he’s a little bit behind him – but he’s got potential. They are all very raw and have too much potential along the front line.

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“You think of [Rasmus] Højlund last year, again, it’s potential I’m not looking at him thinking, ‘Wow, we’ve got a centre-forward here, 25-30 goals’, I’m not thinking that.

“[Joshua] Zirkzee does bring people into play a lot more than Højlund does, but is he that massive goal threat? They had a couple of chances against Liverpool which the keeper saved, and as a midfield player, can we be a bit overcritical on the midfield players when you think what’s ahead of them.

“If I was in the Liverpool team in midfield, I’d be thinking, ‘Wow, I’ve got proper forwards who are going to win us games of football’. If I’m in the midfield for United, I’m looking forward thinking, ‘I’m not quite sure, possibly Bruno, Marcus if he’s got his confidence’, the rest of them, I’m just not quite sure about.

“They [Manchester United] will get better once [Manuel] Ugarte comes in the team. He will improve legs; he’ll tackle and get around the pitch.”

On Christian Eriksen’s impact in recent matches, Scholes added: “Manchester United have got a little bit better since Christian Eriksen has come into the team. In those first two or three games he didn’t play, and they were all over the place. Eriksen brings that little bit of control, but probably can’t play a full 90 minutes and every week.”