needed no Dutch courage to bench in-form in favour of Alejandro Garnacho yesterday. Indeed, he claimed leaving him out was ‘not difficult’ despite the striker netting three times in the visitors’ two victories prior to this trip to Crystal Palace. Yet it still seemed a mighty brave call from Ten Hag, if not utterly bonkers.
Certainly, by the conclusion of this stalemate against the Eagles, it raised further questions about the former-Ajax coach’s man-management and tactical acumen. Confidence is everything in football, right? So why pull the rug from under resurgent Rashford’s feet just as he is finding them again in front of goal? Maybe it was a test for the 26-year-old hitman - designed to see if he would react in positive fashion or sulk on the bench in South London. After all, the relationship between the pair has not been smooth in the last 12 months.
Twice last season, Rashford crossed the line of acceptable behaviour. There was his night on the town post-defeat in the Manchester derby before taking a sickie following a bender in Belfast. That explained Friday’s thinly-veiled warning from Ten Hag about Rashford ensuring he lives the right way off the pitch in order to deliver his best every week on it.
Yet asking a player not to make the wrong headlines in his private time and then making them yourself by dropping him 24 hours later did seem a bit ‘kettle calling the pot black’. Until, that is, we witnessed Garnacho skipping down the left flank in the ea.