Rashford was dropped by Erik ten Hag in December.
Bruno Fernandes admits that Erik ten Hag’s ruthlessness left him and the rest of the dressing room scared after he dropped Marcus Rashford in December.
Despite being in good form at the time, Ten Hag named Rashford on the bench for their game against Wolverhampton Wanderers as punishment for sleeping in late.
Recalling the incident with Rio Ferdinand on BT Sport, Fernandes admitted that the decision left the United squad fearing their manager.
“Marcus was probably in the best form against Wolves – he did something wrong and the manager just pulled him out. Everyone was like ‘wow’. In the first moments, we were like ‘wow, he is our main man and we need him’.
“I was sat by David [De Gea] and I said ‘this has to be like this because if not, the younger ones will think like ‘if he does nothing to him, the next one he will do nothing to me too.'”
“You do it, or you’re out!” 😳
“He did it with Cristiano, he did it with Jadon, he did it with Marcus…”@B_Fernandes8 breaks down what it has been like to work with Erik ten Hag, and what he expects of his players 😤 #BetweenTheLines | @rioferdy5 | https://t.co/EjQgOwTe18 pic.twitter.com/I46idmWjR1
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 23, 2023
Ten Hag’s bold move appeared to pay off as the England international came off the bench to score the winning goal at Molineux.
“He demands from Rashy, you have to be consistent in everything – not only on your game and your goals and your performance, but off the pitch also,” Fernandes added.
“And Marcus, in the beginning, was hungry and wanted to play, but he accepted it and came on and scored.”
The Dutchman hasn’t spoken openly about the choice to drop Rashford, labelling it as an “internal disciplinary” matter but Rashford himself has admitted that he was in the wrong. Posting to Twitter after the win, he said: “Better late than never.”
Related links.
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