“Who else is dealing with that type of stupidness?” - Rio Ferdinand believes Ten Hag cannot ‘trust’ Manchester United players after latest incident

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has voiced his concerns about the current United squad. He feels that manager Erik ten Hag cannot trust his players due to their actions away from the field.

This has come after the latest controversial incident at Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford was seen in a Belfast nightclub twice, hours before missing training and claiming he was ill. He missed the training session on Friday and wasn't available for the team's FA Cup victory against Newport County on Sunday, January 28.

When asked about it, Ten Hag told the BBC (via Daily Mail):

"Let's say it's an internal matter. I'll deal with it."

On his FIVE YouTube channel, Ferdinand highlighted these incidents off the field make it difficult for Ten Hag to focus on football at Manchester United. The former England captain said (via Daily Mail):

"Who else is dealing with that type of stupidness? Who else is dealing with these behavioural problems, these sagas, these big personalities who are doing what they feel is right at the time?"

He continued:

"We're dealing with someone dealing with a lot of issues in the glare of the public, we're the biggest club in the world. It's unprecedented. He isn't letting people get away with it, which I like."

Ferdinand went on to emphasize the issue of trust:

"There's a point where it's trust. Can this manager trust the players won't be front, middle, back page headlines? He can't. He can't trust them at the moment to allow him to focus on football."

Despite Rashford's absence, Manchester United beat Newport County 4-2 away to reach the last 16 of the FA Cup.

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Ten Hag has recently dealt with disciplinary challenges regarding Manchester United's Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford has faced several disciplinary issues at Manchester United in recent years. He was notably left out of the team back in 2022 for arriving late to a team meeting.

After a 3-0 loss to Manchester City in October last year, the attacker went clubbing to celebrate his 26th birthday, which didn't sit well with Erik ten Hag. The celebration was at Chinawhite, and it is said to have lasted until 3.30 am (via Daily Mail).

After news of the winger's clubbing came out, Ten Hag told the press (via Daily Mail):

"I spoke with him about it. It's unacceptable. He apologized and that is it. For us, it's an internal matter."

Rashford isn't the only player Ten Hag has had issues with. Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho have also had conflicts with the manager, and both have since left Manchester United.

Ronaldo slammed the manager in a tell-all interview in November 2022 that saw his contract terminated. Meanwhile, Sancho was banned from first-team activities and sent away on loan after his public falling out with the manager.