Manchester United have come off a poor 2023/24 season, which ended on an incredible high note with the FA Cup Final.
Marcus Rashford’s tears at Wembley said it all. A season of personal disappointment, heavy criticism, and an off-field lapse in discipline, made for a nightmare campaign.
Rashford’s eight goals this season were only two fewer than Alejandro Garnacho, who was widely praised. But the perception was very different.
And that was due to the high standards Rashford had set just one year earlier, in which he scored 30 goals.
Marcus Rashford felt deeper role to blame
Marcus Rashford’s excellent form in 2022/23 saw him earn a new contract, on an expensive salary.
According to The Mail, manager Erik ten Hag felt ‘hugely let down’ by Rashford’s underwhelming 2023/24, in which he failed to score even a third of his total the previous year.
Rashford’s performances took a dip as his confidence was knocked by his lack of goals, and he came under high scrutiny from pundits and former players.
The same report claims Rashford had his own theory why his production dropped – because he was asked by Ten Hag to play a deeper role to accommodate for the injuries to Luke Shaw, which saw the team frequently operate with a fill-in left-back.
Unfair on Rashford’s part to blame tactics
The manager expected him to produce similar levels of performance after signing his lucrative new deal.
It would seem to us, unfair Marcus Rashford to blame Erik ten Hag for his form taking a slide.
The left-back issues severely hampered the team last season, and the tactics needed to be tweaked to accommodate this.
With one of the world’s best left-backs out of action for most of the season, playing only 12 league games, United were weaker at the position and needed players to step up to help offset the loss.
Many of the frustrations from fans were because they wanted Rashford to work harder out of possession.
From the seven league goals Rashford scored last season, only two came when Shaw started. So it wasn’t like he was a lot better when the preferred left-back was available.
The data would suggest Rashford was actually better without Shaw – although there are a couple of factors in play. On two occasions, Shaw had to play at centre-back, and there were two games Rashford featured as a late substitute, and three where he started up front rather than on the wing.
So while his games with Shaw did not reflect what he is capable of, he didn’t actually get worse without him. Rashford must learn to be adaptable and not require a perfect set of circumstances to perform. Wayne Rooney was so great because he was so brilliant in multiple positions, with different teammates, consistently.
Rashford was dropped from the England squad for Euro 2024, and will get a rest to reset and come back stronger.