Erik ten Hag quickly found his line to bat off questions about Marcus Rashford, words that will still be ringing in the ears of Manchester United fans.
“It’s an internal matter,” said United’s head coach, repeatedly, the phrase used more times on Sunday than Rashford has goals this season. Six versus four.
The first three utterances were to the BBC’s reporter ahead of kick-off at Newport, prompting a typically Linekerian response. “I get the feeling it might be an internal matter,” Gary Lineker said, before a fellow England great got serious and reflected on yet another United fall-out.
“If it’s an internal matter you would think something is up,” Alan Shearer said. “There’s a huge talent in there with Marcus Rashford. We saw him be disciplined last season when he was late for a meeting, he actually missed a game, but something is clearly wrong at home or with his relationship with the football club.
“He can’t keep doing this. He can’t keep wasting his talent. It’s not right. He needs strong management, someone to get hold of him and say, ‘You know what, you get to the end of your career and you get have huge regrets, you can’t have that and you don’t need that.’
“When I see him play it looks like he’s got the world on his shoulders. For someone with that amount of talent, it needs sorting out now. He can’t waste it.”
Rashford is said to have attended a Belfast nightclub on Wednesday night, ahead of a day off for United, but as footage swirled on social media, The Athletic reported he was out on Thursday night too – hours before reporting ill for training on Friday.
This supposed illness has been the party line, the reason Ten Hag left him out of Sunday’s squad for the FA Cup win at Newport.
But few are buying it. As put to Ten Hag by one reporter after the match in Wales, why is something an “internal matter” if a player is simply unwell? You already know Ten Hag’s response.
It therefore looks like another disciplinary matter for Ten Hag to contend with. Jadon Sancho has gone, temporarily for now, but how the United boss deals with Manchester’s very own is of even greater importance, particularly with Sir Jim Ratcliffe now eagerly watching on – and who knows, maybe wanting his say as well.
Missing Thursday’s trip to Wolves could be deemed punishment enough, but when you get the sense more is at play – as Shearer refers to – you cannot help but think a more robust response is required.
Beyond matters away from the pitch, on it Rashford is stagnating. Arguably the two go hand in hand, but regardless, four goals in 26 games this season is merely the headline to the underlying issue that he is thoroughly underperforming, and more pressingly, that he does not currently look happy playing for Manchester United.
Rashford may well disagree. His goal against Tottenham a fortnight ago was followed by a celebration indicating there is plenty of “blah blah blah”, but he hardly answered his critics, and that gesture looks even emptier now.
Questions will therefore be asked at Carrington this week. Ratcliffe to Ten Hag, Ten Hag to Rashford. And herein lies the first critical juncture of Ratcliffe’s tenure, one that suggests only one of Ten Hag and Rashford can remain at United beyond the summer – at most.
The easy answer is always the manager. One change is simpler than several, and with Ten Hag carrying the air of a supply teacher unable to control the class, any continued failure to keep players in check could be one of many reasons for his dismissal – the embarrassing early exit from Europe being another major factor.
However, Rashford leaving for pastures new makes as much sense if not more. A £100m fire sale of academy products this summer? Why not make it closer to £200m.
Not only would it answer whether club and player are holding one another back, it would provide the 26-year-old with a fresh challenge, arguably necessary after 19 years in red.
Manchester United is all he knows, and maybe that’s the problem. A comfort that has slipped into a series of lethargic displays. The four-goal return would be less concerning if this were the anomaly, but five goals in 2021-22 suggests this is now a cycle that needs be broken.
It all speaks of a wider concern, of a fractured squad where trust in Ten Hag does not appear whole, of a club where the vibes, to use the vogue word for mood, are off in what Nicky Butt calls a “s—hole” of a dressing room.
But Rashford’s case must be treated alone, and as of now, all the signs point towards a clean break being beneficial for all.
Whether Paris is the answer, though, is another matter later down the line.
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