Erik ten Hag said on Friday that he had “a lot of sympathy” for Marcus Rashford when the Manchester United coach asked for support for the young man who was ‘losing his fire’ on the offensive line.
The 26-year-old scored a career-high 30 goals last season and was rewarded with a new contract until 2028, but his form has since plummeted. Rashford has scored just eight goals in 40 appearances for the club in the current season and fans booed him in the FA Cup semi-final against Coventry.
“If you support me, that’s good. If you doubt me, that’s even better,” the England international wrote in the Players’ Tribune in February. But when a post on social network X (twitter) called the way fans treated Rashford “absolutely disgusting”, “cruel” and “abusive”, the Man United striker commented: “I rate Thank you for your support! It’s been abuse and it’s been enough for months.”
Ten Hag, speaking at the pre-match press conference, said he sympathized with Rashford’s situation. “Last year he had an excellent season. I think it was the best season of his career scoring 30 goals, so you can see what he’s capable of. This season he didn’t show his form and then people criticized him a lot, and I think we have to support him.
“Everyone should support him and push him to return to his form like last year.”
Rashford missed the 4-2 win over Sheffield United in midweek, and will be absent again when United face bottom-placed Burnley due to injury on Saturday. Ten Hag’s team aims to win the right to participate in the European Cup next season, while currently ranked 6th on the Premier League rankings.
When asked if he expected to have two key midfielders for the match, Ten Hag smiled with resignation: “No. I will play with the same lineup as last match, except for Mason Mount. He will back to the team”.
With Victor Lindelof, Raphael Varane, Willy Kambwala, Jonny Evans and Lisandro Martinez still absent, Casemiro will again start at makeshift centre-back. But Ten Hag expects Lisandro Martinez to return alongside Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial for the end-of-season series, including the FA Cup final against Manchester City. “I think we will see them this season,” he said of his trio. All three of them have returned to the training field.”
