Erik ten Hag explains the reason he left Marcus Rashford out of Man Utd XI vs Chelsea

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has suggested Marcus Rashford has dropped to the bench for their clash with Chelsea with rotation in mind.

The Red Devils welcomed Mauricio Pochettino's side to Old Trafford, knowing only a win would quieten the growing scrutiny on the shoulders of Ten Hag. In the wake of their dismal defeat to Newcastle last weekend, reports of revolt against the manager within the United dressing room have continued to circulate.

Ten Hag has strongly dismissed those suggestions, but after such a dire performance on Tyneside, he rolled the changes, with Rashford the biggest call. The England international - who top scored for the club last term - has endured a dreadful first half of the season, netting just twice in 18 matches.

Rashford was dragged off against the Magpies, and Ten Hag admitted that he would hold private talks with the forward in attempt to arrest his current slump. "I talk with him about that, not with the media," he said at St. James' Park.

And the result of those talks appear to be that Rashford needed to come out of the firing line, with Ten Hag instead opting for a forward line of Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Antony.

When asked if Rashford's attitude at Newcastle was behind his drop to the bench, and he told Amazon Prime: "No, we play bad as a team, so we can't blame individuals for it. It's part of rotation, we have a very good, energised front line and everyone needs to be ready as a team."

On his message to his players, he said: "We had two very good performances in six days and on Saturday it was bad, so it needs to be put better. We showed in the previous two games what we needs.

"I think the fans have seen how we played against Everton, against Galatasaray and how we defended as a team, played as a team, how compact we were. On the ball, we were dominant, dictating and creating a lot of good opportunities, a lot of good goals.

Man United legend Patrice Evra said of the weekend's showing: "Against Newcastle it was unprofessional. I saw players that didn't even want to be on the pitch. I know Marcus Rashford is a winger and when I was playing left-back I would never ask the winger to come back but I remember Ryan Giggs at 39...I never saw him give up like that, even in a training session. Those things I can't accept."

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