Erik ten Hag makes ‘facts’ admission over Marcus Rashford’s form and ponders Man Utd change

Erik ten Hag has responded to criticism surrounding Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford.

Rashford, like many of his United teammates, has endured a tough start to the new season, managing just one goal in his appearances across all competitions up to now. That form has led to criticism from pundits and fans, and that’s despite the England international putting together an impressive campaign of last.

His form may also be a symptom of a much greater issues at United, with Ten Hag’s men having struggled to pick up results throughout the early part of the season, continuing their poor form with a home defeat to Crystal Palace over the weekend.

Attention now turns to a Champions League date with Galatasaray on Tuesday night, and while he cannot ignore the facts, Ten Hag is fully behind Rashford.

“The facts are he’s not scoring at this moment, but he’s had opportunities, like against Brighton, where he had five or six occasions in a very good spot,” said the Dutchman in his pre-match press conference.

“If he works hard and invests every day, with the right focus and if the team around him supplies and helps him and supports him with movement, then it will come and Marcus Rashford is a player who’s capable of scoring a goal in every game. When he’s coming in the right spots, he will score.”

Rashford will almost certainly start on Tuesday night, but there is a question mark over who Ten Hag will go with between the sticks, with fans yet to get a look at new signing Altay Bayındır, who is Andre Onana’s back-up this season.

Asked whether the Turkey international could face the club from his home country on Tuesday, Ten Hag added: “You will see. But we chose in the League Cup to play Andre (Onana) because he (Bayindir) has to adapt to the England standard.

“That’s why we preferred Andre to play. But also we have to progress Altay, that’s clear. He’s made a very good impression in training and he’s really developing, so we’re really happy with it. We are convinced we have the two right goalkeepers in the squad to do the job for us.”