04 November 2023 , 12:31
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Rio Ferdinand has given his verdict on Marcus Rashford after the Manchester United star was slammed by Erik ten Hag for hosting a birthday party hours after last weekend's damning Manchester derby defeat.
Rashford's behaviour was branded "unacceptable" by Ten Hag in the build-up to Saturday's match against Fulham following reports that the striker attended a birthday bash in the city centre last weekend.
Asked about the party, Ten Hag said: "Yes, I'm aware of it. I spoke with him about it. It's unacceptable. I told him, he apologised and that's it. For us, it's an internal matter. He's fitting in, he's very motivated to put things right. I know how much effort he is putting in. He's totally with us. So he makes a mistake, but that doesn’t mean he's not fitting in.
"I see him every day in training, what he's doing, so I know. He makes one mistake but also, off the pitch, I see what he's doing, how he lives and I'm sure he's doing everything right to help the team and to perform and to let us win."
Shortly after being called out by his manager, Rashford failed a late fitness test so missed out on Saturday's match against Fulham. And Ferdinand believes that Ten Hag may have been tempted to take disciplinary action against the forward had he been fit enough to feature at Craven Cottage.
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Ferdinand told TNT Sports: "From what I understand, he had a medical test today and he’s failed it due to a knock, a heavy knock to a dead leg. We were all primed up for the disciplinary decision to be made, to see what Ten Hag was going to do but this looks like it’s been taken out of his hands."
Ferdinand added he would not have gone out after the derby defeat if he was still a United player and even claimed there were a number of times during his career when he stayed at home despite family and friends coming up to visit from London and heading out without him.
Ten Hag would stress in his own pre-match interview that Rashford would have featured against Fulham despite Ferdinand's claim. His comments come at a time when Ten Hag is under pressure with reports claiming the Old Trafford dressing room is divided over the Dutchman's hardline approach.
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Rashford missed out vs Fulham due to injury (AP)Ferdinand stressed that the onus is on the former Ajax chief to turn things round, adding: "It’s more or less crisis time, I think that the manager is being questioned and scrutiny is really on him for the first time in his tenure. There’s obviously problems throughout the club from top to bottom, but the manager and the players are in the spotlight more than the others because they’re the ones out here.
"In his press conference earlier this week, he said that the players understand his standards, but do they? Because they’re not getting to that standard, and they clearly haven’t been all season. I was just listening to him saying that they’re hard to beat, that his side are working hard, but they're not. They’re clearly not.
"At Manchester United, working hard is the first thing you do - and to turn a situation like this around, working hard is an absolute given. There hasn’t been enough this season for me, and Fulham will be looking at them and will believe they can put the nail in the coffin."