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Rob Dawson, reporter
Erik ten Hag says the punishments given to Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho after the indiscretions were different because “Jadon chose to reveal his identity publicly”.
Rashford is available for Manchester United’s Premier League match against Wolves on Thursday after clear talks with Ten Hag on Monday following the England striker’s ill-advised trip to Belfast last week.
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Meanwhile, Sancho is currently on loan at former club Borussia Dortmund after publicly questioning the reasons for Ten Hag’s exclusion from the squad for a match against Arsenal in September.
Sancho was forced to train alone for more than four months while Rashford trained as usual with his team-mates on Monday, and Ten Hag says the different approaches came down to Sancho’s now-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter.
“We can solve everything internally,” Ten Hag said. “Jadon chose to make himself known.”
Rashford was caught in trouble after he reported that he was seriously ill and was unable to train on Friday after spending a night in Belfast on Thursday.
He also missed training on Saturday and missed the 4-2 win over Newport County in the FA Cup on Sunday. Rashford is set to return to the team against Wolves, although he may have to settle for a place on the bench.
“First of all, players at this level need to manage themselves, and that’s what you can ask of a player,” Ten Hag said in a press conference on Wednesday.
“A player has to know what is good and what is not good. When you want to play high football, it requires a certain lifestyle. Always.”
Rashford and Sancho are not the only ones to fall foul of Ten Hag’s strict rules.
The Dutchman also had a disagreement with Cristiano Ronaldo before his move to Al-Nasr and disciplined Argentine teenager Alejandro Garnacho. However, Ten Hag insists he is not there to babysit his players.
He said: “No, come on, we are talking about the best football players.”
“You don’t have to educate them anymore. When you play for Manchester United, they should know that.”
