Marcus Rashford is struggling to fulfill his primary role as a striker, which is to score goals. Former Liverpool player and manager Graeme Souness has criticized Rashford for being lazy.
After a standout 2022/23 season with 30 goals, Rashford’s performance dipped last season, with only 8 goals. This season, he has yet to score, and in the recent MU defeat to Brighton 1-2, a goal he scored was disallowed for offside.
On the radio show Three up Front, Souness commented: “I don’t think Rashford has had a great career at MU. He was once seen as a promising young striker, but now it seems like playing a full 90 minutes is a burden for him.”
Souness added: “Watching Rashford play, I don’t expect him to have any impressive bursts of speed or score stunning goals. I’m still haunted by his performance in the MU vs Luton match last season. He just walked around and let Ross Barkley get past him several times. Rashford is playing like that again, so I can’t shake off the image of him being lazy.”
It’s unclear whether Souness’s criticism will motivate Rashford to improve, but Ruud Van Nistelrooy, the assistant coach, is working hard to help him enhance his form. Van Nistelrooy is personally coaching Rashford, spending extra time after training to focus on improving Rashford’s awareness of danger from behind and his ability to make runs and finish in the box, helping him better capitalize on chances from teammates’ crosses.
