Manchester United have not been playing up to their usual standards as multiple English top-flight football and European club football competition winners, and recent news with Marcus Rashford, the 26-year-old forward who graduated from the academy of the Red Side of Manchester only added more miseries to the side that are struggling to put together successful runs of wins in all competitions in the 2023/2024 Season thus far. The striker for the Three Lions were a notable absentee in Erik ten Hag’s Red Devils lineup against EFL League Two club Newport County at the latter’s home, and United did not show any rightful dominance against their much weaker opponents in that 4-2 victory.
What Is Wrong with Marcus Rashford?
Marcus Rashford’s exclusion from ten Hag’s travelling squad to Rodney Parade drew rumours on whether the player has any public feuds with the Dutch head coach, who had already stumbled across issues with other forwards such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho in the recent past. The initial reason given on the England international’s absence was “Ill”, but as more sources surfaced in the past few days, the actual situation may reflect otherwise.
According to reports, the 26-year-old Marcus Rasford was pictured at Belfast earlier in the week, having gone on a 12-hour tequila bender and passed out on hotel bed fully-clothed at midnight, leading to his eventual absence from United’s game against Newport County. Ten Hag was asked during the post-match conference of his team’s FA Cup Fourth Round tie about Marcus Rashford’s situation, in which the Dutchman did not fully respond to the question relating to the Three Lions star. “I don’t go in this case. We talked before about it, we played a good game, and now we move on,” said the United boss.
In relation to this matter, Manchester United soon released a public statement regarding the England forward, saying that all matters have been resolved, and the player will be available for selection again for the Red Devils’ following games. “Marcus has taken responsibility for his actions. This has been dealt with as an internal disciplinary matter, which is now closed.”
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Marcus Rashford’s Statistics for Manchester United This Season: Four Goals and Six Assists
After falling to a slump in the 2021/2022 Season with only five goals and two assists in 32 games in all competitions for Manchester United, the England national team player Marcus Rashford was the top scorer for the Red Devils in the 2022/2023 Season, finding the net 30 times in addition to 11 assists in 56 games played in four contests. The forward may not have found his form earlier in that year, but his showing was emphatically spurred in the following months after the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
As a huge contrast to his best scoring season ever, Marcus Rashford only managed to collect four goals and six assists in 26 games in all tournaments for ten Hag’s United thus far, and the mediocre performance by one of the most talented players in the squad of the English Premier League giants explains why United are unable to replicate their last season’s success or even go a step further than what they achieved last year in this season, having reached two domestic cup finals and winning one of them (EFL Cup against Newcastle United) as well as finishing third in the English top-flight football.
Should he be incorporated back to the starting lineup for ten Hag’s Manchester United, Marcus Rashford is likely to play his future club games as a striker instead of his usual role at the left wing due to an extensive absence to Anthony Martial, who is now out for 10 weeks due to an injury. “Of course, [Marcus] Rashford can play as a striker; We have some other alternatives and it’s clear that Anthony [Martial] is out for a couple of months it’s a gap in our squad, clear,” said ten Hag.
Marcus Rashford has scored 30 goals for Man Utd this season 🫡 pic.twitter.com/VZJUgPeN9f
— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 25, 2023
Marcus Rashford-Less United Found It Tough to Overcome Newport County
In the FA Cup Fourth Round game against Newport County that Manchester United played without Marcus Rashford, ten Hag’s men struggled to keep their lead and wasted their two-goal advantage at Rodney Parade moments after the second 45 minutes were resumed. The Red Devils from the English Premier League only managed to escape this domestic cup tie against their fourth-tiered EFL League Two opponents thanks to another couple of goals by their forwards Antony and Rasmus Højlund, and they will have either Bristol City or Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup Fifth Round next.
Click here to check out the full match details between Newport County and Manchester United.
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