Marcus Rashford is one of the most well-known players in the Premier League.
With 426 appearances, he ranks 12th on Manchester United’s all-time scoring list with 138 goals.
Twice, the 27-year-old has won the FA Cup and the EFL Cup. In addition, he has won the Europa League. He has 60 caps for England.
In 2021, he received an MBE off the field for his efforts to combat child poverty.
But since he was benched for the Manchester derby, his career has been clouded by the perception that his time at United is running out.
How did we arrive here?
United revealed on July 18, 2023, that Rashford has inked a new deal through June 30, 2028. Rashford’s previous contract was set to expire in a year, and he had previously been linked to several prominent European teams, so it was the conclusion of a tale.
It was a logical step. Rashford was only 25 years old and had just scored a career-high 30 goals at home in the 2022–2023 campaign.
On September 3, he scored the first goal in a 3-1 loss to Arsenal after going three games without scoring.
As United’s decline under Erik ten Hag got underway, he was not to score for another 13 games.
Rashford was cut from an FA Cup trip to Newport County in January after skipping training due to sickness and going later than expected on what had been an approved excursion to Belfast. He was also photographed drinking tequila in a nightclub.
Even though Rashford scored the first goal of Ruben Amorim’s tenure at Ipswich on November 24 after just 81 seconds, the new United manager acknowledged that the 27-year-old’s best position was not center striker. However, in Amorim’s first six games as manager, Rashford started three games and was substituted for three others.
Alejandro Garnacho and he were then dropped for the Manchester derby. Amorim gave the following explanation after the game: “At the start of something, everything matters, including how you perform in training, how you eat, and how you motivate your teammates. We must set very high standards when members of your club are losing their employment.
What has caused Rashford to receive criticism?
Every management must eventually make important decisions. Whether you like it or not, their definition is the result of them.
Major choices were made during Sir Alex Ferguson’s tenure at United, ranging from firing Paul McGrath and Norman Whiteside while keeping Bryan Robson at the beginning of his tenure to allowing Paul Pogba to depart at the conclusion.
Amorim was fully aware of the consequences of his choice to exclude Rashford.
It would have been questioned whether it was wise to have Joshua Zirkzee as the lone attacking player on the bench if United had lost to Manchester City. However, they didn’t. They prevailed because of Amad Diallo.
“Today we proved we can leave anyone out and win,” Amorim went on to say. He can beat his players with his enormous stick.
A realist, Rashford is. For him, he will be aware that the writing is on the wall. Given that he only scored twice in his final 28 games of the season, which saw Ralf Rangnick take over as manager, it is reasonable to assume that he has been far below his potential for the last 18 months, or for all bar the 2022–23 season since November 2021.
His work ethic has been criticized on numerous occasions, and some have also criticized him for his off-field antics, which included a vacation to the United States during the international break in November.
Rashford is allegedly being unfairly singled out. However, that aspect of his existence will remain unchanged. He needs to deliver, but he hasn’t done thus far.
