There were many talking points from the game at Stamford Bridge but one of the notable ones was Erik ten Hag’s decision to drop Marcus Rashford from the Starting XI.
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Manchester United would be keen to bounce back against their old foes Liverpool at the weekend after suffering successive setbacks in the Premier League. Returning from the international break, United produced a poor display away to Brentford. But still, they almost won the game when Mason Mount scored the opener in injury time. However, Brentford got a late equaliser through Kristoffer Ajer. Those two dropped points were seen by many as a missed opportunity in the fight for the top-four race.
However, it only got worse from there. Manchester United rallied from a 2-0 deficit away at Chelsea and were a couple of minutes away from winning the action-packed Premier League contest at Stamford Bridge. However, poor defending allowed Cole Palmer to equalise from the spot deep into injury time. With only seconds left, Chelsea managed to find the winner – again – through Palmer’s deflected strike.
Throwing away two leads from winning position in successive games has been met with massive criticism among supporters and pundits. After the horror showing against Brentford, United’s performance did improve at Chelsea but they did not have anything to show for it. There were many talking points from the game at Stamford Bridge but one of the notable ones was Erik ten Hag’s decision to drop Marcus Rashford, who has been experiencing an inconsistent season till now, from the Starting XI.
Speaking about Rashford’s form, ten Hag, quoted on the club’s website, said in his pre-match press conference, “I think lately his form is progressing and so the time will always be right. I think he has a big motivation because he wants to be successful with us. He wants to score goals but he wants to win trophies and contribute and we still have a chance in the FA Cup. He wants to fight for a Champions League spot and the Euros are coming so I will say his motivation should be high. And the form, that is a moment and he can change the momentum always. Before Brentford, he scored three goals in three games.”
The Manchester United manager then spoke about the importance of bringing the big games over the line. Following two late setbacks in back-to-back games, he wants his players to make better decisions to help them see out the win. “For me personally? I have to manage the game and I have to manage the team. You have seen we have qualities. We have some great players. We can be in momentum and we can play at very high standards,” he explained ahead of the league clash against Liverpool.
The manager added: “We have seen today an example and we have seen against Liverpool. We can compete with the best and we can beat the best teams in the Premier League. And when you beat them in the Premier League, you can beat them across Europe. But we need to learn how to win games – how you bring big games over the line and get the three points. Saturday was an example, today was an example. We have to step up and we have to make better decisions individually and as a team.”
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