Manchester United fans have barracked Marcus Rashford for his performances and kicked him out of the England squad. Photo: Reuters/David Klein
There There is plenty of scientific evidence that strikers and strikers reach their peak in football at around 26 years of age. This is the age generally considered to be the physical peak for players in these positions, when, even without the fine tactical understanding that comes with maturity, they can do maximum damage through athleticism alone. Marcus Rashford is the same age now.
And yet, instead of electrifying the European Championship with his stunning pace, he will be stuck at home in Cheshire, kicking his heels.
What a waste. It's easy to forget, despite all the gloomy headlines surrounding him last year, how much excitement Rashford can generate with his confident performances on the track. At the World Cup in Qatar, his scoring rate was so lethal (three goals in 137 minutes of play) that Gareth Southgate caused outrage when he did not bring him on as a substitute in the dying throes of England's quarter-final defeat to France. “Rashford could have put us ahead and changed the game,” fumes Rio Ferdinand.
Fast forward 18 months and the potentially exciting striker no longer deserves to even be included in the extended 33-man squad.
This is not how Rashford's career was supposed to unfold. After one stunning season last summer, it looked like he had been rewarded for his brilliance for club and country. But the wonderkid's story has since turned sour: his experience at Old Trafford was so harrowing that he spent the warm-up before Manchester United's last home game in a furious row with his fans.
It's tempting here. blaming the institution rather than the individual, declaring that the pervasive sense of decline at United leaves no player untainted. But Rashford also needs to take his share of responsibility.
His unconventional idleness is not some subjective interpretation, but a provable fact. The data shows he came under far less pressure in the final third of last season than in either of the previous two campaigns. He also ran much less, averaging 19 sprints per game compared to 22 two years earlier.
Ultimately, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville's verdict was hard to argue with. “Something is wrong,” he said. “It’s not just that he’s bad at football. He doesn't look happy.”
That dissatisfaction was evident in his cri de coeur for The Players' Tribune, where Rashford suggested his critics were desperate to unseat him following his hugely influential campaign for free school meals during the pandemic. This argument only strained his relationship with United fans, who resented his lack of effort.
The problem was not that the paying players misunderstood him, but that they expected him to deliver his £325,000. a week's salary and more than a string of unsuccessful performances or an unauthorized trip to Belfast that forced him to call in sick and go to training.
Thirty goals one season and eight the next? It is a decline that even its most ardent apologists struggle to justify.
The harsh reality is that Rashford urgently needs a reboot. For all his protestations of loyalty to United, the marriage has broken down to the point that he would be best off building his future elsewhere.
PSG, Chelsea and Spurs are potential suitors
This doesn't mean there's a lack of interest. Paris Saint-Germain had been making attempts for some time, with Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the French club's president, hatching a plan to sign him after his brilliant performances at the World Cup. Talk of a move to Chelsea continues, although it remains possible that Tottenham Hotspur could make a move if they dumped Richarlison.
A change of course can't come too soon. While there are mitigating circumstances for his fall from grace at United (the arrival of Rasmus Hoylund reduced his chances of scoring), those who followed the club home and away understandably questioned his commitment.
In February at Luton, footage of his low pressing went viral, showing he didn't even try to tackle Ross Barkley. And after the inferno of the penalty shoot-out win over Coventry City last month, he was booed off the pitch by fans.
It's a precarious situation. As René Meulensteen, once an integral part of the United coaching team, said: “He's a Manchester boy and it would be a shame to see him go. But perhaps a change of coach will help him.”
Who could argue with that? Rashford is hungry for new energy, new scenery, an environment where he won't be regularly berated by fans who feel they don't see an adequate return on his extraordinary salary.
The pain of being dumped. from England should serve as a sharp reality check. Rashford cannot portray himself as a victim of Southgate's abuse given that nine strikers scored more goals than him last season. To be fair, he took the news well, wishing the team luck in Germany.
But now he needs to figure out how to change the wrong trajectory of his career. And it can all start with a brutal look in the mirror, an acknowledgment that a 26-year-old in the full prime of his sporting prowess should not let the greatest tournaments pass him by.
Sorry, Marcus, but the ugly truth is that you're not playing well enough. More details
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