“I think he is on the way back,” Erik ten Hag said after seeing Marcus Rashford score two goals in Manchester United’s 7-0 rout of Barnsley in the third round of the Carabao Cup. “He always knew, and every player knows, when your lifestyle is not right, you can’t perform. You don’t get the right levels when you don’t have a good and disciplined life away from [United’s training ground] Carrington.”
The lid of the “ketchup” bottle initially came off in United’s 3-0 Premier League win at Southampton three days earlier as Rashford snapped a 13-game scoreless streak, and in the Barnsley game, he played with a smile on his face for the first time in what feels like forever. As Ten Hag alluded to, something wasn’t right for Rashford off the pitch last season, but the 26-year-old offered a timely reminder of what he can do when his head is in the game.
Rashford could have built some proper momentum from there. Unfortunately, nothing is that simple under Ten Hag. Instead of heading to Crystal Palace – the scene of United’s worst performance in 2023-24 – with a resurgent Rashford leading the line, Ten Hag opted to drop him to the bench.
The Red Devils then played out a 0-0 draw that did more early damage to their top-four ambitions. It was yet another example of Ten Hag’s baffling decision-making preventing any real progress, and Rashford had every right to look as frustrated and disillusioned as he did whenever the television cameras panned to the dugout.