EXCLUSIVE NEWS: ” I didn’t bench him cause I was angry with him but I did to send him a warning that he has little time to find himself I hate lazy players and with garancho playing well if rashford is not careful he won’t see the starting 11 in a long time”. Fabrizio Romano claims that Eric ten hag benched Rashford against Chelsea in order to send a “message” to the player.

Romano, who spoke exclusively to CaughtOffside for his Daily Briefing column, clarified that although Erik ten Hag’s choice to start Rashford as a substitute in such a significant game wasn’t entirely meaningless, it was also a chance to express to the player their desire for him to get back to his best.

Rashford has had a difficult start to the season and is well short of the lofty goals he set for himself the previous season, when he scored a career-high 30 goals for Manchester United across all competitions.

But as of right now, Rashford has only scored twice in 19 games across all competitions this season, so some supporters will argue that Ten Hag had every right to leave him out of the team.

Though they do believe the player will eventually return to his peak performance, Romano also hinted that there may have been a message intended for the player. He explained that it was partially just a regular squad rotation.

Romano responded, “Technical decision, also rotation for Man United after many games,” when asked if he had any inside information regarding Ten Hag’s choice. That’s all, and it serves as a message to Rashford that they want him to return to his best. The team is still optimistic that he will return in peak form.