According to Talk Sport, Simon Jordan has expressed doubts about Erik ten Hag’s management of the Marcus Rashford scandal, arguing that he erred in disclosing it to the press.
A few hours before the Manchester United forward missed United’s training on Friday morning due to illness, he was spotted at a nightclub.
Ten Hag stated at his press conference on Friday that Rashford was sick; however, when questioned about it during Sunday’s FA Cup match against Newport County, the Manchester United manager disclosed that the forward was not playing because of “an internal matter.”
When questioned further, Ten Hag responded, “I don’t go in this case.” We had previously discussed it, had a fun game, and are now moving on.
Although the Dutch manager aimed to silence criticism regarding the forward’s behavior, Simon Jordan thinks that Ten Hag’s actions made matters worse.
Jordan said to talkSPORT when asked how strict Ten Hag needed to be with Rashford, “It depends what he’s done.” In the end, many managers would permit a player to leave on a Wednesday if he was playing on a Saturday.
We don’t know how long he spent at the nightclub; for all we know, he might have stayed until after midnight before leaving to go home.
“The question is, expecting this question, why does he need to make it an internal matter, and why isn’t he in training on the Friday and Ten Hag?” The response is “he’s not feeling well.” The conversation comes to an end at that point.
“He’s chosen to make it a media matter. He doesn’t need to deal with it through the media. If there’s a problem with Marcus Rashford’s attitude then he needs to deal with it face to face but he needs to deal with it.
“Anything with Manchester United, anything that’s not there will be questioned because of the nature of people’s perception of what’s happening at the club with the ownership change, the cultural side of the football club and not winning anything with everything up in the air since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
“You know you’re going to get these question so the answer would have been very simple, ‘he’s not very well’, and the rest of it would have taken care of itself and he’d have dealt with it, but for whatever reason he’s chosen to air it.
“I don’t know if this is a cardinal sin. I don’t know if Marcus Rashford is legitimately unwell and I don’t know if him going out on a Thursday evening is any different to going out on a Wednesday evening when playing on a Saturday.
“I’m assuming he’s been told he’s not very well by Rashford, but we’re talking about a manager who has got form for this too and so the question is why does Ten Hag want to do it this way?
“Forget Rashford, he can be dealt with. He’s an employee who can be brought into line or sold. It’s been going on too long with him – he’s not a top class, he’s a good player.
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“A top-class player doesn’t score 3, 4, 5 or 7 goals one season and then 30 the next. He’s a good player but not a world-class player.
“The issue is Ten Hag and his preparedness to involve the question, the controversy and the pile-on of adverse thinking and adverse influence and why does he want to do that? It must be a style of management.
“He did it with Jadon Sancho and I make him right for doing it with Jadon Sancho, I do, I just don’t think it’s a continuing trend that works. I don’t think it’s a dressing room bonding mentality.
“If you use the media, you get to use them once or twice. You don’t get to use them as a staple diet or as your default setting as a management tool.
“The media got given a thread and all they need is a thread.”
The next game Man United plays in the Premier League is on Thursday night against Wolves; it is unclear if Rashford will play.
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