Bastian Schweinsteiger, when discussing the struggles of his former Manchester United team-mate, mirrors what Rio Ferdinand said about a man who has come in for his fair share of criticism during Erik ten Hag’s second season in the Old Trafford dugout.
Is his dip in form a damning indictment of the player himself? Or, instead, the inevitable by-product of the rather indifferent displays of those he shares a dressing room with at Manchester United?
Ferdinand, the legendary centre-half, told The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast a few weeks ago that Marcus Rashford‘s goal tally – 30 last season and only eight this – can be explained somewhat by the lack of quality service coming the forward’s way.
And Schweinsteiger tends to agree. Rashford, he feels, is a victim of Ten Hag’s muddled system, with a lack of movement in the final third frequently leaving the Carrington graduate isolated up against two or even three defenders.
It is also worth pointing out that Rashford is also lacking the presence an orthodox left-back like Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw making overlapping runs on the flank. It’s no coincidence that one of his best performances this year, in that 4-3 win at Wolves, came when Shaw was flying down the left-hand side.
And Schweinsteiger, who played for United during Rashford’s stunning breakthrough season under Louis van Gaal, would love to see the England international thrive ‘in a better team’. Either, an improved Man United outfit or, failing that, somewhere else.
Marcus Rashford struggling at Manchester Untied
“I would love to see him in a better team,” Schweinsteiger tells Gary Neville on the lastest edition of The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast. “Where he gets the balls at the right moment.”
“Because, in the past (few) years, you don’t really see that. If he would play for a different team, maybe he would also increase his level a little bit more.”
Imagine, for instance, Rashford racing onto the defence-splitting through balls provided by a Kevin de Bruyne, a Pedri or a Jude Bellingham.
Rashford, as he proved in 2022/23, can be a devastating attacking force when the team is set up for him to thrive. The 26-year-old, that Manchester derby screamer comes to mind, also remains one of the few players in this Man United squad capable of winning a game all on his lonesome.
Only eight goals this season
“He is still a player who can decide the games,” adds Schweinsteiger, the Bayern Munich and Germany icon, highlighting Rashford’s apparent tendency to let his head drop when the going gets tough. “But he does not show it too many times. Maybe, inside, he’s also a little bit frustrated how it is.
“I think that, first of all, he has to understand he can also be the example (for his team-mates). You can handle frustration differently. Someone should speak with him. And it also has to come from (within himself).
“Sometimes, coaches tell you to stay left, stay right. You need to help him and he needs to understand why.”
Man United can still end the season with a trophy in their hands. Rashford is likely to start against Championship outfit Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, having played a major role in that dramatic victory over arch rivals Liverpool in the previous round.