Erik ten Hag names under fire star and squad outcast as two of Man Utd's six creative players

Erik ten Hag singled out six of Manchester United's most creative players after their win over Nottingham Forest, and he included some names you might not expect.

The Red Devils came away 3-0 winners in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, leaving Steve Cooper's side with an uphill battle in the second leg at Old Trafford.

Predictably, Marcus Rashford opened the scoring inside six minutes after a dazzling run down the left. Sam Surridge looked to have his side level, only to see it chalked off by VAR for a tight offside.

Wout Weghorst then opened his account for Manchester United on the stroke of half-time, before Bruno Fernandes sealed the win late in the day.

Ten Hag labels Rashford 'unstoppable'

After the game, Ten Hag was full of praise for high-flying Rashford, who has 10 goals in his last 10 games. Since returning from the World Cup, he has failed to score in just one game, and is now only four goals shy of his best scoring season (22) in the 2019-20 campaign.

The Dutchman stated: "There are more players who are playing really well but I am happy with Marcus's performance and his development.

"From the start of the season he is growing and he keeps doing that and what we have to aim for with him, and he is responsible for that, is to keep this process going. If he is in this mood, this spirit he is unstoppable and it's about the team to get him in the right positions.

"Also, in possession, we have a plan but finally is also the intuition, the creativity of an individual like Rashy is to create chances."

Ten Hag went on to mention the importance of his other creative players, including Antony, who has come under a storm of criticism lately, and Jadon Sancho, who hasn't played for the club since October.

"We have some of it like Rashy, Bruno (Fernandes), Antony definitely as well, Jadon Sancho is one, (Anthony) Martial is one. We need such type of players. Christian Eriksen, don't forget him," Ten Hag continued.

"Be creative in the final third and do something no one expects, some crazy stuff that has to be also in a team's fantasy and adventure."

Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Marcus Rashford, Nottingham Forest, EFL Cup, Antony, Jadon Sancho, Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen, Anthony Martial

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno