‘Madness’… Tony Cascarino stunned by Ten Hag’s decision on 28-year-old Manchester United star vs Bournemouth

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Tony Cascarino has admitted that he cannot believe that Anthony Martial continues to start for Manchester United, insisting that trying to rest Rasmus Hojlund would have been madness from Erik ten Hag.

Cascarino was writing for The Times as he suggested that ten Hag does not have the luxury of being able to rotate his squad for future games right now.

Saturday’s clash at Old Trafford is going to be etched in the memory of Manchester United fans for years to come. They suffered their third 3-0 loss at home of the season. And it was Bournemouth who got the result.

Tony Cascarino baffled by Anthony Martial starting for Manchester United

Erik ten Hag surprised many ahead of the game, starting Anthony Martial up front. Martial has now scored 12 league goals since the start of the 2020/21 season. And his form has come in for a lot of criticism over the last few years.

So it was not a shock to most when he endured a torrid afternoon. And he came off for Hojlund just 11 minutes into the second-half.

Hojlund did not score, although he should have been given the chance to by Diogo Dalot. Nevertheless, Cascarino admitted that he cannot understand ten Hag’s starting lineup.

“What more is there to say about Manchester United? There is so much wrong at that club, with nothing left of the great old winning machine,” he told The Times.

“There are so many things I’d like to ask Erik ten Hag but chief among them would probably be: why on earth is Anthony Martial still starting games? Were they resting Rasmus Hojlund with one eye on Bayern Munich on Tuesday? If so, that’s madness. Ten Hag doesn’t have that luxury. United are a sinking ship and need all hands at the pump.”

Success this week unlikely to lift much of the gloom surrounding Old Trafford

It does feel as though we are at the stage where even getting through in the Champions League is hardly going to bring the Manchester United fans a lot of joy.

Ultimately, it is clear just how many problems the club are dealing with right now. And thus, reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League – as brilliant as that would be – would solve little.

The worry is that it is hard to know what can be done in the short-term to turn this season around. They sit sixth in the Premier League, but can surely expect to slide further down on current evidence.

And they need something special to go through in the Champions League this week.

Clearly, if Cascarino had one piece of advice ahead of the clash with Bayern, it would probably be to make sure that Martial is not in that starting lineup.