Former Liverpool and West Ham star Don Hutchinson says he does not believe Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s justification for substituting Marcus Rashford against FC Porto on Thursday night.
With the score level at 2-2, the England international was replaced by Alejandro Garnacho at half-time despite the winger looking dangerous down the left wing.
Rashford has endured a torrid 18 months of form and eyebrows were raised at the substitution given that he was finally showing glimpses of the player who had taken the Premier League by storm in years gone by, opening the scoring after seven minutes and creating several other clear-cut chances.
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United went on to draw the match by the skin of their teeth, with Harry Maguire bagging a late equaliser to make it 3-3 after Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Speaking after the game, Hutchinson told TNT Sports of his doubts over Ten Hag putting Rashford’s substitution down to just ‘rotation’.
He explained: “I’m not buying it. I’ve been in dressing rooms, half times, full times, before games, and it’s one of them where I think Erik ten Hag, and I’m not questioning him because he knows his players and he knows exactly what went on, I’m surmising from an ex-players point of view.
"I'm not convinced Rashford was taken off just to rest for the Aston Villa game."
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 3, 2024
Don Hutchison suspects there's a deeper reason behind Marcus Rashford being subbed for Alejandro Garnacho in the second half ??????
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“When Marcus Rashford in the first half was playing really well and he looked really sharp, and at 2-2 are you going to tell me that Marcus Rashford got took off because Erik ten Hag’s got an eye on the Aston Villa game?
“If you’re winning one of two-nil and you take him off because you’re trying to protect the player and give him less minutes going into the Villa game, totally understandable.
“While the game is in the balance at 2-2, in a big game, I don’t buy rotation so I wonder if there’s been some sort of conflict, argument at halftime. That can happen. That’s what I’d be leading to, I might be wrong but that’s what I’m leaning to.”
The 3-3 draw has piled further pressure on Ten Hag and the Dutchman will be hoping that Rashford can silence his manager’s critics at Villa Park. Ten Hag insisted that the need for ‘fresh players’ was the reason for the change, but if Rashford is omitted from the starting eleven for this weekend’s match then it could point to a bigger issue.
