Erik ten Hag has left Manchester United legend Roy Keane with egg on his face after the ex-Old Trafford star slammed Marcus Rashford and claimed he 'plays like a child' at the tail-end of last term.
Keane's scathing remarks came in the aftermath of United's win over Brenford at the back end of last season, at a time when Rashford was hardly in the kind of goal-scoring form he finds himself in currently. There were fears among some sections of the United faithful that the England ace simply couldn't afford another campaign struggling in front of goal.
Assessing Rashford after a game against the Bees that saw him left as an unused substitute, Keane's comments made for brutal reading as he told Sky Sports that the striker needed to get his mind back on to footballing matters.
"He seems short on confidence, I go back, I think he's taken his eye off the ball, with all his off the field stuff.
"He's got that experience, but he doesn't mix his game. Even when he's playing through the middle, I said he plays like a child. It's like he's not learnt from the game. I think he's lost the eye of the tiger and he's struggling to get it back.
"I think the hunger, he's got to get the hunger back and make runs like [Anthony] Elanga, Rashford has lost that hunger which is huge for a player."
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Well, with the full faith of Ten Hag behind him every step of the way this term, Rashford has got his hunger back and then some.
As we approach the season's final furlong, it seems appropriate to reflect on how Rashford responded to Keane's claim. He did so by firing in 25 goals across all competitions and counting, with the 25-year-old on track to enjoy the best league return of his career.
Under the guidance of Ten Hag, Rashford is playing with the kind of confidence the United faithful first saw when he burst onto the scene as a teenager back in 2016.
Some fans and pundits alike claimed that the United boss was wrong to exile and eventually get rid of Cristiano Ronaldo as they felt there was no obvious candidate to take on the goal-scoring burden, but Rashford has happily obliged and has already bettered Ronaldo's tally from last season.
Ten Hag discussed Rashford's improvement from the beginning of the campaign in January, as he explained: "In terms of his performance and development, from the start of the season he is growing.
"We have to keep this process going and in the first place he is responsible for that. With this mood and this spirit, I think he is unstoppable."
