It was evidenced again at Wolves that Man Utd finally have a proper manager. Now Erik ten Hag deserves to be furnished with a proper centre-forward...
Given the absence of cutting edge throughout the rest of his team, it must have been tempting for Ten Hag to look the other way from Rashford’s misdemeanour. In his absence throughout the first-half, United’s attack exhibited a woeful lack of ruthlessness or cutting edge.
Right now, he is utterly reliant on Anthony Martial. “I like the type that Martial is because he can hold the ball, he’s a target, he can link up, he can also run behind, he has speed, he can finish and he’s a good presser,” said Ten Hag in November. Presumably because a lack of alternatives meant he had to.
With Martial missing a sitter before the break, following a glaring miss from Garnacho, Ten Hag had little choice but to turn to Rashford at half-time. It was the only attacking change the manager had to hand and it was like-for-like on the left-hand side. The only alternative would have been to swap Martial for Rashford, but the England attacker has stated time and again his preference for coming off the left.