Rio Ferdinand accuses Erik ten Hag of 'confusing' Man United star after team decision

Rio Ferdinand has criticised Erik ten Hag for his 'baffling' decision to leave Marcus Rashford on the bench during Manchester United's clash against Crystal Palace. The 26-year-old forward had recently ended his goal drought with returns in victories over Southampton and Barnsley the previous week.

However, on Saturday at Selhurst Park, Ten Hag chose to start Alejandro Garnacho, Joshua Zirkzee and Amad up front. This left no room for Rashford, who was reduced to a mere 29-minute appearance.

United failed to penetrate Palace's defence and they were held to a 0-0 draw. Ferdinand expressed his confusion over the decision to bench Rashford just as he was finding his stride.

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While the former United defender acknowledges the importance of rotation this season, he questioned the wisdom of benching an in-form player like Rashford. Speaking on his YouTube channel, as quoted by the Mirror, he said: "Talking of rotation, following the game against Palace, Man United are third in terms of xG, only bettered by Man City and Liverpool.

"So they’re creating the chances but not scoring the goals. When you’ve got a man in form like Marcus Rashford, who’s coming into a bit of form and momentum which is key for any player and their confidence, I’m thinking is it the right time now to rotate?

"We’re creating chances and you take out the guy who is actually starting to score. I just look at that and think, wow. It was pleasing to see the manager come out and say it was rotation, nothing else, because there was some murmurings around it.

"But Marcus Rashford man, I