The England international is clearly holding the Red Devils back right now, and no longer deserves to be an automatic starter
Erik ten Hag probably feels a debt of gratitude towards Marcus Rashford – which is understandable. The Manchester United forward made sure that the Dutchman's debut season in the Old Trafford dugout was a successful one by scoring 32 goals across all competitions, as he finally seemed to have come of age.
With the help of first-team strikers' coach Benni McCarthy, who Ten Hag hired a month after his own arrival at United, Rashford added a clinical edge to his game that had previously been lacking due to his erratic decision-making in the final third. More often than not, he was taking his chances and playing the right passes, which helped United clinch a top-four finish and their first trophy in five years in the form of the Carabao Cup. Rashford earned the right to be the first name on Ten Hag's teamsheet, and deserved all of the praise that came his way.
But just 12 games into the 2023-24 campaign, Rashford has used up all of the credit he had in the bank. Ten Hag has started the 25-year-old in all but one of United's fixtures – the third-round Carabao Cup win over Crystal Palace – and he's only managed to score once.
Rashford is currently enduring an eight-match barren run in front of goal at club level, with his latest ineffective display coming against Copenhagen in the Champions League. United scraped a 1-0 victory in spite of Rashford's presence, as he seemed to be doing his best to squander almost every promising attack while shirking his defensive duties. Still, Ten Hag kept him on for the full 90 minutes.
Rashford still enjoys the manager's full faith because of his exploits last season, but Ten Hag is wrong to blindly trust that his star man will eventually return to form.
GettyManic Marcus
Rashford's composed finishing was a joy to behold last season as he scored some brilliant goals from a variety of angles, but he's regressed dramatically in that department in recent months. The United academy graduate is still taking plenty of shots, but has a shooting accuracy of just 38.9 percent in the Premier League, which puts him way behind the top marksmen for 2023-24 so far.
The fact that Rashford is missing the target so often suggests he is rushing his execution – and attempting to score from unrealistic positions. His wastefulness in possession must also be a great source of frustration for his team-mates.
Summer signing Rasmus Hojlund has the most reason to complain, having only scored three times since his £72 million ($87m) switch from Atalanta, despite making a hatful of intelligent runs and getting into great positions. His output would undoubtedly be better if Rashford was playing with his head up and putting a few crosses into the box.
United have struggled to string passing sequences together in general this term, and Rashford must shoulder most of the responsibility for that. He is misplacing simple passes and running down blind alleys week in, week out.
Rashford can be anonymous for lengthy periods, too, and doesn't do nearly enough to aid the team's press when out of possession. Supporters have every right to demand a lot more from a man who is now into his ninth year of senior football at Old Trafford.
Advertisement(C)GettyImages'A petulant child'
Rashford doesn't help himself when it comes to inviting criticism. In addition to his lack of care with the ball, he also tends to spend far too much time on the ground after coming under challenge. Exaggerating to draw fouls has become common practice in the modern game, and Rashford certainly wins his fair share of free-kicks while embracing his more theatrical side – but he leaves United in a vulnerable position on the occasions that the referee does not blow his whistle.
Former Red Devils defender Paul Parker said as much when analysing Rashford's poor performances in September, before suggesting that his future might lie away from Old Trafford if he doesn't acknowledge his faults.
"I would love to see Rashford proving me wrong, and I will happily eat humble pie, but I just don’t see it happening," Parker told . "I think the fans are tired of seeing him faking an injury all the times he gets tackled. They want to see him get up, chase back and get the ball back.
"What he is doing is something you would expect to see in a schoolyard from a petulant child. You wouldn’t expect it to happen at Old Trafford. Not in a million years. But he does that every single time and it shows me that he might not be a player for Man United after all. He needs to change his game and his attitude."
This version of Rashford is painful to watch, and a pale imitation of the one that led the line so impressively during Ten Hag's first year at the helm. Officials behind the scenes at Old Trafford won't be panicking just yet, but talk of a potential transfer will inevitably arise if he does not turn things around quickly.
Getty/GOALTen Hag must be ruthless again
"The facts are he is not scoring in this moment, but he had opportunities," Ten Hag said when quizzed on Rashford's form at the start of the month. "If he invests every day, goes with the right focus, and if the team around him supply and help him and support him with movement, then it will come. Marcus Rashford is a player who is capable of scoring goals in every game and when he comes in the right spot, he will score."
Unfortunately, that vote of confidence has done little to re-motivate Rashford. United have won three of their four games in all competitions since then, but only by a single goal, and the England international's body language has been poor. Ten Hag has to show his ruthless streak again in order to spark a change.
He certainly did when Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire failed to meet his high standards last season, while Jadon Sancho is now in the middle of his second exile from the squad for an apparent lack of commitment in training. A similar approach must now be taken with Rashford, who is far too comfortable with his current standing, having put pen to paper on a new five-year contract worth a reported £325,000 in weekly wages back in July.
Rashford thinks he's untouchable, and needs a harsh a reality check. There is a good chance that being dropped could shake him back into life, too, if he takes the same approach to getting back into the team that Maguire has. The 30-year-old defender refused to accept a transfer away from Old Trafford after losing his place, and the captaincy, and has gradually regained Ten Hag's faith by proving that he still has plenty to offer.
The same test of character must be thrust upon Rashford. His decline, and indeed United's, is guaranteed to continue if Ten Hag doesn't act now.
Getty ImagesThe alternatives
Of course, the main reason Ten Hag could be sticking with Rashford is the fact United do not have many other options on the left-flank. Sancho was the main competition for Rashford, but it has been reported that he may have already played his last game for the club as a January exit beckons.
The injury-ravaged Anthony Martial is still clinging on his to Old Trafford career and has plenty experience under his belt as a winger, but at just 27, it already looks like his best days are well and truly behind him.
Mason Mount, who has yet to make an impact for United since his £60m ($73m) switch from Chelsea, has played out wide for England in the past, but it's not a position that comes naturally to him and he needs to go back to basics in order to rediscover his best level.
That leaves Alejandro Garnacho as the most obvious replacement for Rashford, with the Argentine having produced an exciting cameo from the bench against Copenhagen. The 19-year-old's best performances in a United shirt to date have generally come as a substitute because he can often exploit tired defences with his willingness to take on his marker and fire in shots from any angle.
Garnacho has not been quite as impressive when trusted to start matches and still lacks maturity – as evidenced by an ill-advised tweet to United goalkeeper Andre Onana that has reportedly left him at risk of a ban – but he has plenty of potential to unlock. He is obviously a special talent, and if managed correctly, could become one of United's most important players in the coming years.
He certainly has more to offer than Rashford at the moment, and a run of matches would help to fast-track his development. Garnacho is the kind of player than can get a crowd off its feet and create something out of nothing, which United sorely need to kick their season into gear.