Erik Ten Hag dismisses Jamie Redknapp’s speculation about Marcus Rashford as ‘crazy’

But returning to Redknapp’s comments, the Dutch coach said: “I’ve heard speculation (about Rashford) from some pundits. It’s crazy. I would almost say that as a person you’re not OK if you put forward such speculation when you don’t know.

“This is just rotation. We have a lot of games to cover. We have more than a starting eleven of players. If the players perform, we give them their chances. In the end, of course, we will find that the players who perform better will play more.

“I’m very happy with Marcus, with everything. With his defensive part, offensively, he scores at the moment. He performs very well. So it has nothing to do with him being on the bench, only with the rotation.”

Redknapp wouldn’t let it go and spoke again on Sky after Ten Hag spoke. “It’s a fascinating day today with Marcus Rashford,” he continued. “We thought he turned a corner by scoring a couple of goals, a couple in the middle of the week and one at the weekend.

“I thought the momentum was starting to build and the confidence was building and he’s being left out today. There’s a bit of a cloud hanging over him. I don’t think that’s ideal for the club because the manager – every press conference he has is about Marcus Rashford.”

Redknapp added that players “must dedicate their lives to football”.

United face FC Twente in the Europa League on Wednesday night, and we’ll see if Ten Hag’s ‘rotation’ policy will see Rashford start again.