Baffling Dean Saunders comments show not everyone understands Erik ten Hag’s Marcus Rashford role

The arrival of Erik ten Hag at Manchester United has performed wonders for Marcus Rashford, who is currently in the form of his life.

He simply cannot stop scoring. Against Charlton Athletic, Marcus Rashford added his 14th and 15th goals to his tally for the season off the bench and made it eight games in a row where he has scored at Old Trafford.

He is the first person to score eight games in a row at Old Trafford since Wayne Rooney, and the fixture also marked the sixth match in a row he has scored in across all competitions.

Erik ten Hag has sung Rashford’s praises at Manchester United on numerous occasions, with others such as Lisandro Martinez claiming Rashford will become one of the best wingers in the world.

However, Dean Saunders, who totalled 618 domestic league appearances spanning across 12 clubs such as Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in his career, has claimed that Marcus Rashford’s development has nothing to do with the Dutch manager, and just instead the improvement in the squad.

“If you’re Rashford, and you’re playing in a team that has Fred and McTominay in midfield, are you going to get more of the ball if Casemiro and Eriksen are in midfield and Varane and Martinez are behind them? He’s playing with better players,” Saunders told talkSPORT.

“[He’s being coached] as well, but most of all he’s playing with better players – he’s (Erik ten Hag) more or less changed the whole team. Antony is on the right, he’s got a different right-back, different left-back, two centre-backs different, Fernandes, Eriksen and Casemiro, so Rashford’s getting the ball, isn’t he?”

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Saunders’ comments are not only very dismissive of the work Erik ten Hag has done, but they are misinformed, too. Of the players who immediately surrounded the left-hand side last season, only two of them have changed – one of which has just changed back to its original occupant.

Last season, Marcus Rashford was surrounded by Luke Shaw, Fred, Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo on that left-wing position. This season, all that has changed is Fred’s position is now occupied by Christian Eriksen, and Cristiano Ronaldo has been replaced with Anthony Martial – who Marcus Rashford has been playing football alongside his whole career regardless.

“Rashford is getting the right ball, at the right time, and now he’s got confidence,” Saunders continued.

“Being a professional footballer, it doesn’t matter who the manager is, you look in the mirror, you get up in the morning, and you earn your wages – you do what you’re good at. It doesn’t take a manager to get it out of you.”

Erik ten Hag, during his tenure so far at the club, has been a catalyst for boosting the morale of many players – the proof is in the pudding. The performances of players such as Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot, Anthony Martial and even Aaron Wan-Bissaka in recent weeks have seen a marked improvement in the players’ work rate, work ethic, overall performances and team togetherness.

It is not a hard conclusion to draw that this effect has been down to the coaching and man-management of Erik ten Hag and his coaching staff, who work day in and day out to help the players raise their standards.

“People keep saying to me, ‘is Ten Hag the right man to get the best out of Paul Pogba?’. No, the best man to get the best out of Paul Pogba is Paul Pogba,” Saunders concluded. “So [it’s] nothing to do with coaching, when they are seasoned players they know what to do – it’s an excuse.”

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It is true to say that the talent within the side has improved remarkedly since the summer, with Eriksen, Casemiro, Martinez, Tyrell Malacia and Antony having made significant impacts on the starting XI.

However, even then, it was Erik ten Hag’s choice to bring most of these players in – especially Antony and Martinez, who Manchester United paid over the odds for in order to recruit them. So, it is almost impossible to say that Rashford’s improvement has not been down to the decisions and management of Erik ten Hag, because the Dutchman has been the main driving force behind so many of the changes we are seeing in the flying Englishman.