Marcus Rashford could soon find himself out of favour at Manchester United if his ‘dire form’ does not improve.
That is the view of former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore, who believes United’s number 10 runs the risk of being replaced as the Red Devils’ first-choice left-sided winger.
Despite enjoying his best-ever campaign last season, Rashford, 25, who scored 17 league goals from 35 games, appears a shadow of his former self this time around.
Struggling to find the back of the net, the Manchester-born wide-man has barely made an impact in his team’s first seven games, but Collymore thinks there is very little United can do to turn the underperforming forward’s form around.
“Marcus Rashford is in dire form,” he said in an exclusive interview.
“His season hasn’t yet started and his head is very much down. It’s clear by now that Rashford is a confidence-player. He blows hot and cold with very little consistency to his game.
“He’s a couple of weeks away from turning 26 years old; he’s no spring chicken and it’s very unlikely that his game is going to dramatically change – he is what he is. So if I were in charge of Manchester United’s technical performance analysis, I would be advising Erik Ten Hag to stick with him for so long, probably another two or three more games, and if he continues to misfire, drop him.”
Going on to suggest the soon-to-be 26-year-old is in danger of being replaced, Collymore added: “I would certainly be looking at a new left-sided winger in the summer though.
“I would want a player to come in and look at Rashford and say ‘I am taking your spot and you’re never going to play for this club again. I’m the main man now.’ because I think it could be really easy to discourage and overwhelm Rashford and effectively end his Old Trafford career.
“He’s far too nice. If he stopped playing now, would he be considered a United legend? – Absolutely not.”
Recently awarding Rashford with a new contract that doesn’t expire until 2028 could prove another costly decision for United, but either way, with the player’s value sitting around the £70 million mark (TM), seeing him underperform week in, week out is not really an option. Erik Ten Hag’s biggest challenge this season could be finding a way to get the Englishman firing.
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