Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has slammed Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag for starting Marcus Rashford ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo against Manchester City.

Ronaldo was on the bench as he watched on while United were thumped 6-3 by bitter rivals City and was not even introduced as a substitute.

Speaking on talkSport, he stressed Ten Hag could not afford to wait for Rashford to start producing and criticised him for ‘standing still’.

“Time is not your friend in football, you have to be winning games today,” Souness said.

“It’s not about waiting for Marcus Rashford to become the player that most people believe he can be. It’s not about giving Martial, because of his age, a place in the team over Ronaldo. It’s about today in football. Yeah, I would have [played] Ronaldo.

“Marcus Rashford, when he first burst into the team as a young player you thought ‘he’s the real deal’. He’s stood still. If you were to ask me today, next week, big game – for all his shortcomings, Ronaldo, I would have played him in front of Rashford.”