How the Man Utd and England star lost his spark this season
After sliding behind Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga at Old Trafford, Rashford has been left out of Gareth Southgate’s national squad and United. The 24-year-old was benched for United’s match against Leicester on Saturday, despite the absences of attackers Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani.
Marcus Rashford’s fall reached a new low on Saturday when he played 55 minutes at Old Trafford.
The 24-year-old was ultimately called upon off the bench in the second half of Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Leicester after interim manager Ralf Rangnick chose to play Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes as strikers despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani due to illness and injury.
The exclusion of Rashford from the starting lineup was regarded as a “big killer and tells us that Rangnick doesn’t fancy him” by Sky Sports analyst Gary Neville.
“To play without a center-forward at home against Leicester after a couple of weeks off is a significant choice by Ralf Rangnick,” Neville added. “Rashford needs a new manager more than you can imagine. This is a low point for him.”
Rashford was given another major setback last month when he was left out of the newest England squad for the first time in six years, with only eight months till the Qatar World Cup.
This is his poorest season since breaking into the first squad from the academy in 2016. Rashford was on track to become a 30-goal forward after scoring 22 goals in all competitions in 2019-20 and then adding 21 goals and 15 assists in 2020-21.
Only United icons Norman Whiteside, George Best, and Ryan Giggs were younger than him when they achieved 250 games for the club. However, his form began to dwindle last season, culminating in a penalty miss during England’s Euro 2020 final shootout defeat to Italy, and now, with only five goals and two assists this season, his status for both club and country is under threat.
The football world is still waiting for the forward who rose to prominence as a teenager to produce on the big stage.
So, what went wrong for Manchester United’s forward?
