Manchester United view sidelining Marcus Rashford as key to cultural reboot

[sparx99]

Why does it have to be man of the people or horrific c*nt? Maybe he's a decent lad who grew up poor and likes to be a little flash and the clothes he wears and cars he drives have absolutely nothing to do with the content of his character?

To be honest, this seems awfully similar to criticisms of other non-white players over the years but I never read comments about what kinds of cars nor what style of clothing white players have/wear. I am not saying this is racism, nor accusing anyone of racism, but it's pretty clear there's bias showing through that we should all examine.

A lot of us have no idea what Rashford wears or what car he drives. We do see him strolling around the pitch, shirking challenges and losing every 50:50. His attitude is a night and day contrast to Amad and Hojlund for example.

I’m not a huge fan of Bruno’s at times but you can’t accuse him of a lack of effort. The difference is stark compared to Rashford.

Couple that with his gaslighting PR team and it’s all quite annoying.

 

[van Nistelrooy]

As we all know, it's impossible for a person to have selfish motives when publicly doing a good deed.

But seriously I see no reason for anyone to ever mention his charity work in the football forum, whether it's to label him a good person or whether it's to suggest it's PR. The fact of the matter is we don't know the guy and should stick to talking about him in the context of football

He brought a journalist with him. If it's a selfless good deed, you certainly don't do that. He could have done his charitable work and then met Henry Winter at a different location later on.

 

[Gazza]

Almost beyond parody that, regular as clockwork, within 2 days of being dropped we can add another one to the list.

Spoiler: The List

Nothing about this walking brand that's remotely genuine...completely shameless.

Damn.

 

[GlazersHater]

Both have to be working together. It is rare we see forwards in a team performing to a high level in stuggling teams. I dont remember seeing United clicking in all 10 other positions and Rashford letting us down.

Yes, he is earning top money because he plays at United, a club with nearly $800mil a year in revenue. Every player at United is overpaid for what they are acheiving.

We gave Mason Mount £250k a week and paid Chelsea £60m to buy him when he only had a year left on his contract. We paid him as if he was a free agent and paid a transfer fee.

Antony, Maguire, De Ligt are on £200k a week. And lets not mention Casemiro on £350k plus a transfer fee. You think that represents value?

We pay massive wages, so expect a player that just scored 30 goals, that is on his 3rd or 4th contract of his United career to receive the same.



Never said he was world class.

It is not as simple as a player getting paid what they are worth. As i explained, it is what it would take to replace Rashford at the time. A time when he was coming off his best season and there was positive vibes around him and Ten Hag.

Go back to summer 2023 when he signed.

You have two options....
You give Rashford a contract for 5 years on about £80m for the term of the contact.
Or you find a replacement and risk Rashford running down his contract and leaving on a free like Mbappe did.

What do you do? And who do you bring in? You aint getting a replacement for that money. And the club looks very stupid if the let him go on a free to a rival.

And the chance of a sale in 2023 would have been slim as we would have wanted £80+mil for the transfer and he would have wanted a £80+mil contact from his next club, thus costing any potential suitor £160mil+. No one is paying that money anymore.

Forwards functioning in struggling teams tend to move to bigger clubs, and struggling attackers in big teams tend to be moved on. Do you think any big club would have stayed with Rashford underperforming for this long?

The fact that we massively overpay players is not an excuse to justify Rashford. Antony and Mount being a complete waste of wages doesn't make Rashford's wages any better. That's why we have one of the biggest wage bills in Europe and still have an average squad at best.

Many have claimed that Rashford should be sold then instead of given a new contract. I won't pretend to be one of those, but time has proven them right. The thing is, players earning world-class wages are expected to produce world-class performances. If Rashford was on a 50k-a-week contract, nobody would care, but he's our highest earner, and he's been poor for over 18-20 months now. The standards are set. Imagine what must be going through Amad's mind, knowing he's the best attacker in the club. According to reports, he's on a 30k-a-week contract, compared to Rashford's 300-350k a week. How much do you think Amad is going to ask for?

It's different when you see Haaland, KDB, Rodri, Salah, Saka, etc., on those wages—they've earned them. But having players like Rashford earning that much only hurts us, not only because he doesn't perform but because he lowers the bar for the whole squad. Amorim is trying to raise that bar; Rashford must either improve to justify his place or should be sold.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Lack of work ethic ,arrogance, and laziness reflects poorly on any person's character. You can make excuses for him if you like, but we can only judge on what we see, and that's what we've been seeing on the pitch for a long time

Kind of ridiculous to accuse him of being lazy/lacking work ethic as a personality trait when he made it as a pro footballer at the highest level.

He’s stopped working hard on the pitch - that is true - but he wasn’t always like that. Recently we as fans can definitely critique that part of his game. I’ve no idea if he’s arrogant - is he? Everything anyone ever says about him is he’s quite unassuming, a bit of an introvert and very into his community/charity work.

 

[gaffs]

So sell our two most promising young players, to enable us to sign some promising young players?



Apparently not.

It is more appealing to clubs because you get the lump sum upfront, then can amortize the cost of the players you bring in over multiple years. You do that when you need to strengthen in multiple positions and you dont have the cash or much room because of the PSR cap.

 

[elmo]

That’s been the sad thing with Rashford. He absolutely has the talent. His work rate has just died in the last 2-3 years and it’s harder to stomach.

More like 6 years. His work rate has plummeted since Ole took over.

 

[gaffs]

Forwards functioning in struggling teams tend to move to bigger clubs, and struggling attackers in big teams tend to be moved on. Do you think any big club would have stayed with Rashford underperforming for this long?

The fact that we massively overpay players is not an excuse to justify Rashford. Antony and Mount being a complete waste of wages doesn't make Rashford's wages any better. That's why we have one of the biggest wage bills in Europe and still have an average squad at best.

Many have claimed that Rashford should be sold then instead of given a new contract. I won't pretend to be one of those, but time has proven them right. The thing is, players earning world-class wages are expected to produce world-class performances. If Rashford was on a 50k-a-week contract, nobody would care, but he's our highest earner, and he's been poor for over 18-20 months now. The standards are set. Imagine what must be going through Amad's mind, knowing he's the best attacker in the club. According to reports, he's on a 30k-a-week contract, compared to Rashford's 300-350k a week. How much do you think Amad is going to ask for?

It's different when you see Haaland, KDB, Rodri, Salah, Saka, etc., on those wages—they've earned them. But having players like Rashford earning that much only hurts us, not only because he doesn't perform but because he lowers the bar for the whole squad. Amorim is trying to raise that bar; Rashford must either improve to justify his place or should be sold.

I dont disagree with this in hindsight. But that is easy to make the argument re his contract a year and a half later when he and the team hasn't performed. Infact, the last 18 months may have been the worst we have seen from United since the start of the Premier League era. So what really are we expecting from one player?

The question is, was it a mistake at the time to sign him onto that contact in 2023?

I would say not because replacing 30 goals is near impossible. Especially when we were without a proper striker (we spent huge on Hojlund and had to bring in Weghorst only month before, just to get by) and our right side of the forward line was equally bare because Antony wasnt showing anything. I think you forget that context. There wouldn't have been the money to spend on a left forward to replace Rashford at that time so far better to give him a 5 year contract at that time. And don't think his agents wouldn't have understood this.

Yes, an argument could be made that 22/23 was an abnormal season for Rashford, but i dont believe he overachieved. He reached his potential and Ten Hag obviously thought he could get the best of out him again.

350k a week is a bargain compared to going into the market, signing a big name, on equally big wages and him potentially not working out. Because history tells us the vast majority of our signings have been shocking, so maybe it was a case of better the devil you know.

Letting him go into his last year of the contract, post a 30 goal season, would have been malpractice. Let him run his contract down, he goes on a free to a league rival, who are no doubt in a better position than we are and the club look like morons.

And don't say "oh, we should have sold him". To who exactly? Why would Rashford want to leave when he could run down his contacts and earn way more by holding out for a pre contact in Jan 24. See Mbappe.

 

[elmo]

I dont disagree with this in hindsight. But that is easy to make the argument re his contract a year and a half later when he and the team hasn't performed. Infact, the last 18 months may have been the worst we have seen from United since the start of the Premier League era. So what really are we expecting from one player?

The question is, was it a mistake at the time to sign him onto that contact in 2023?

I would say not because replacing 30 goals is near impossible. Especially when we were without a proper striker (we spent huge on Hojlund and had to bring in Weghorst only month before, just to get by) and our right side of the forward line was equally bare because Antony wasnt showing anything. I think you forget that context. There wouldn't have been the money to spend on a left forward to replace Rashford at that time so far better to give him a 5 year contract at that time. And don't think his agents wouldn't have understood this.

Yes, an argument could be made that 22/23 was an abnormal season for Rashford, but i dont believe he overachieved. He reached his potential and Ten Hag obviously thought he could get the best of out him again.

350k a week is a bargain compared to going into the market, signing a big name, on equally big wages and him potentially not working out. Because history tells us the vast majority of our signings have been shocking, so maybe it was a case of better the devil you know.

Letting him go into his last year of the contract, post a 30 goal season, would have been malpractice. Let him run his contract down, he goes on a free to a league rival, who are no doubt in a better position than we are and the club look like morons.

And don't say "oh, we should have sold him". To who exactly? Why would Rashford want to leave when he could run down his contacts and earn way more by holding out for a pre contact in Jan 24. See Mbappe.

Yes. And I’ve said it we even than, we should have called his bluff and let him realise nobody was going to overpay for a player who only plays well for 3-4 months every 3 years.

Stop saying it’s hard to replace a 30 goals player in Rashford. The reality is he doesn’t even hit that target in most years. Getting in a player who can contribute 10-15 goals a season is closer to his actual contribution and you can get that without needing to spend over 150k per week in wages.

His stats blind people that his actual performances are terrible even when scoring and only delusional people would think it’s sustainable.

 

[Rolaholic]

More like 6 years. His work rate has plummeted since Ole took over.

Around the time that Ole later revealed that he had been playing through serious injury for months on end.

The vast majority of players who have played similar amounts of minutes from a young age were burned out physically by 30

 

[He'sRaldo]

Similar story story as with Lukaku, Lingard, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Martial, etc.

End of the day, scapegoating and selling these players has done little for our actual progress. In fact, we have gone backwards since some of the players I mentioned.

All that really matters is if we can get it together on the pitch, and if Amorim can actually deliver. Focusing on an individual player and trying to hound them out has not, and will not help us.

It's funny though how it's the exact same-ish pattern every time, with massive vitriol and then huge relief when the player finally goes... only for us to still be average.

Fingers crossed though. Maybe this time it'll be different and getting rid of Rashford actually takes us where we need to go.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

It is definitely too early to tell as has been evidenced time and again in the past. Salah was older than Garnacho when Chelsea sold him. Ronaldo was a "one trick pony" who was mocked constantly by rival fans and pundits when he was 20, and went through sustained spells of being frustratingly crap.

It's an absolutely ridiculous thing to claim. Garnacho has had a poor run of form and been dropped for 1 game. He's 20 years old and has no right to even be playing at the level he is. He's also an age where inconsistency and emotional petulance comes as standard.

Unless he instigates it, selling him would be insanely stupid. It won't raise enough money to build a team it will raise money to try and get a replacement who we might not get and even if we do probably won't have nearly the same potential.

Rashford is 27, has performed poorly for ages, drives around everywhere in a solid gold car, doesn't seem to treat bettering himself as a footballer as any kind of priority, hides behind a pr machine instead of knuckling down, and is on massive wages. I don't get how Garnacho or Mainoo manage to make their way into a discussion about the club considering selling him. There is no comparison at all.

The bolded is where we differ then and I'll just leave it at that. Because I don't think Garnacho has the same potential that you do at all.

 

[Rolaholic]

Similar story story as with Lukaku, Lingard, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Martial, etc.

End of the day, scapegoating and selling these players has done little for our actual progress. In fact, we have gone backwards since some of the players I mentioned.

All that really matters is if we can get it together on the pitch, and if Amorim can actually deliver. Focusing vitriol on an individual player and trying to hound them out has not, and will not help us.

It's funny though how it's the exact same-ish pattern every time, with massive vitriol and then huge relief when the player finally goes... only for us to still be average.

Fingers crossed though. Maybe this time it'll be different and getting rid of Rashford actually takes us where we need to go.

Maguire too and we weren't magically better when he was exiled to the bench either. It's all part of the same pattern and culture. All cautionary tales that will likely fall on deaf ears by the time the next target has been decided upon (looking like Garnacho soon).

It's why I'm personally done with all the scapegoating, I've seen this song and dance far to many times to think this is any different. The club has been a mess for a long time and it's not down to individual players or managers. No player on the planet, no matter how good, would succeed/thrive long term in such a consistently chaotic environment. The best clubs are typically very stable and operated well, United have been everything but.

Most fans have known all of this very well but we still continue to dish out all that frustration at the feet of the managers or players we don't like as if the things we are frustrated about just happen in a vacuum. Also as much as people would prefer robots for managers/players, they're very much all human and all the vitriol can very realistically impact their work.

When it gets to the point where someone can't even post simple condolences for a dearly departed club servant without dogs abuse in the replies, that becomes a problem that has little to do with football honestly.

Just hoping that in the future, we start affording similar grace that we do early on with managers, to the players entrusted with executing the managers plan. They're all intertwined and any disillusionment will always adversely affect the team as a whole.

 

[EnviedRed]

Similar story story as with Lukaku, Lingard, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Martial, etc.

End of the day, scapegoating and selling these players has done little for our actual progress. In fact, we have gone backwards since some of the players I mentioned.

All that really matters is if we can get it together on the pitch, and if Amorim can actually deliver. Focusing on an individual player and trying to hound them out has not, and will not help us.

It's funny though how it's the exact same-ish pattern every time, with massive vitriol and then huge relief when the player finally goes... only for us to still be average.

Fingers crossed though. Maybe this time it'll be different and getting rid of Rashford actually takes us where we need to go.

Can't have a player on Rashford wages not producing. It's really that simple. Rashford should be our best player..he should be the talisman. Instead we need to lift him up.

No player should be allowed to stay at one of the biggest clubs in the world unless that player is world class every year and Rashford is not. We need to have higher standards. Time for him to go.

None of those players you mentioned that we sold have gone on to have great careers at other clubs so it seems that we were right to sell. I don't regret letting go of any of those players you mentioned.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

“just the charity stuff”. That isn’t enough?

Honestly, I don't judge someone either way based on charity, especially uber-rich people.

It's absolutely a top thing for him to do (obviously), but there are also plenty of examples of shitbags being very charitable and philanthropic.

Personally I don't judge these guys either way since I've never had personal interactions myself with them, although I do assume he's a great guy if we've never heard a peep bad about him from others by this point.

 

[yeaherino]

That’s been the sad thing with Rashford. He absolutely has the talent. His work rate has just died in the last 2-3 years and it’s harder to stomach.

feck, that he had the talent to kick on in 2018 or so and just didn't improve. Guy wanted to be Ronaldo, didn't realize he needed two feet

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Maguire too and we weren't magically better when he was exiled to the bench either. It's all part of the same pattern and culture. All cautionary tales that will likely fall on deaf ears by the time the next target has been decided upon (looking like Garnacho soon).

It's why I'm personally done with all the scapegoating, I've seen this song and dance far to many times to think this is any different. The club has been a mess for a long time and it's not down to individual players or managers. No player on the planet, no matter how good, would succeed/thrive long term in such a consistently chaotic environment. The best clubs are typically very stable and operated well, United have been everything but.

Most fans have known all of this very well but we still continue to dish out all that frustration at the feet of the managers or players we don't like as if the things we are frustrated about just happen in a vacuum. Also as much as people would prefer robots for managers/players, they're very much all human and all the vitriol can very realistically impact their work.

When it gets to the point where someone can't even post simple condolences for a dearly departed club servant without dogs abuse in the replies, that becomes a problem that has little to do with football honestly.

Just hoping that in the future, we start affording similar grace that we do early on with managers, to the players entrusted with executing the managers plan. They're all intertwined and any disillusionment will always adversely affect the team as a whole.

I personally think we do the bolded better than most clubs here too. Media might pile on players, but the majority of fans are almost overforgiving of poor performance especially if requisite effort was applied for a fair amount of time. And I don't consider twitter comments to be a fair reflection of any fanbase, it's mostly filled with absolute cretins or terminally online people anyways.

 

[yeaherino]

Similar story story as with Lukaku, Lingard, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Martial, etc.

End of the day, scapegoating and selling these players has done little for our actual progress. In fact, we have gone backwards since some of the players I mentioned.

All that really matters is if we can get it together on the pitch, and if Amorim can actually deliver. Focusing on an individual player and trying to hound them out has not, and will not help us.

It's funny though how it's the exact same-ish pattern every time, with massive vitriol and then huge relief when the player finally goes... only for us to still be average.

Fingers crossed though. Maybe this time it'll be different and getting rid of Rashford actually takes us where we need to go.

He has put up 4 and 7 in 2 of the past four years in the league in 25 and 33 matches, those are relegation numbers mate

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Similar story story as with Lukaku, Lingard, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Martial, etc.

End of the day, scapegoating and selling these players has done little for our actual progress. In fact, we have gone backwards since some of the players I mentioned.

All that really matters is if we can get it together on the pitch, and if Amorim can actually deliver. Focusing on an individual player and trying to hound them out has not, and will not help us.

It's funny though how it's the exact same-ish pattern every time, with massive vitriol and then huge relief when the player finally goes... only for us to still be average.

Fingers crossed though. Maybe this time it'll be different and getting rid of Rashford actually takes us where we need to go.

It’s not scapegoating. You can’t improve your squad without getting rid of players who are delivering. Going “where we need to go” will take much more than selling players but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to sell.

Rashford only makes headlines because he’s one of our highest earners and a homegrown player. Otherwise, this is business as usual for a club trying to improve.

 

[DevilRed]

The manager (and other players) have just publicly said that they need guys to "suffer" and work hard to stay in the team.

Rashy of course has to come out and say he is ready to down tools and leave.

Sums up the mentality in this team and why we've been mired in mediocrity for so long.

Better players have gone in the primes (Becks for one) and we've thrived. Real legends of the club, not mediocre academy players that strop around.

 

[Freak]

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ited-marcus-rashford-cultural-reboot-garnacho

Crucial first step or disgraceful way to treat club legend Rashford...

Did you just refer to Rashford as club legend?

 

[Escobar]

The manager (and other players) have just publicly said that they need guys to "suffer" and work hard to stay in the team.

Rashy of course has to come out and say he is ready to down tools and leave.

Sums up the mentality in this team and why we've been mired in mediocrity for so long.

Better players have gone in the primes (Becks for one) and we've thrived. Real legends of the club, not mediocre academy players that strop around.

The fact that Rashford cannot even be bothered once a new manager comes in shows there is a deep rooted fundamental issue with him. There is no hope here imo and the club sold good players for less problematic issues. He really needs to be sold as nothing is at an acceptable level: performance, training, attitude, work rate

 

[dazjoe]

Why does it have to be man of the people or horrific c*nt? Maybe he's a decent lad who grew up poor and likes to be a little flash and the clothes he wears and cars he drives have absolutely nothing to do with the content of his character?

To be honest, this seems awfully similar to criticisms of other non-white players over the years but I never read comments about what kinds of cars nor what style of clothing white players have/wear. I am not saying this is racism, nor accusing anyone of racism, but it's pretty clear there's bias showing through that we should all examine.

Waiting for the racism card to be played.

Yeah, no one ever talked about what David Beckham wore, no front page articles about sarongs, nothing of the sort.

Nah, just cause Rashford isn't white. That's all.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

I agree with this.

But would Salah have thrived at United like he has at Liverpool? Likely not as we haven't be able to play progressive football.

Would Liverpool be as competitive with marcus leading their lines instead of salah?

 

[Woodywizz]

Incredible that the race card has been played, that’s so poor.

Rashford gets criticised not because he is black but because he has been utterly shit on the pitch week in and week out for the last 2 years and he’s compounded this with a sullen entitled attitude whilst picking up the biggest wage of any player in the club.

 

[WPMUFC]

Amorim went to see him train pre-kick off as he wasn't selected. Amorim suggested the visit and being left out was about a whole of person assessment and that after the City match, Rashford's opportunity to get back into the team would be like anyone else's.

As a result of the simplest form of management, a player on 300k + per week basically confirms his own exit. I don't know what happened to him, but time to go.

 

[Rob67]

Why does it have to be man of the people or horrific c*nt? Maybe he's a decent lad who grew up poor and likes to be a little flash and the clothes he wears and cars he drives have absolutely nothing to do with the content of his character?

To be honest, this seems awfully similar to criticisms of other non-white players over the years but I never read comments about what kinds of cars nor what style of clothing white players have/wear. I am not saying this is racism, nor accusing anyone of racism, but it's pretty clear there's bias showing through that we should all examine.

One of the worst posts I've ever read on here. You say that you're not accusing anyone of racism, then go on to say there's a bias against 'non-white' players.
This is nothing to do with the colour of Rashford's skin, this is about his lack of effort on the pitch and the flashy persona off the pitch whilst claiming to be a man of the people.

 

[Rob67]

A lot of us have no idea what Rashford wears or what car he drives. We do see him strolling around the pitch, shirking challenges and losing every 50:50. His attitude is a night and day contrast to Amad and Hojlund for example.

I’m not a huge fan of Bruno’s at times but you can’t accuse him of a lack of effort. The difference is stark compared to Rashford.

Couple that with his gaslighting PR team and it’s all quite annoying.

Agree with this 100%.
I can excuse a drop in form or a period of lack of confidence in any player, but there's never any excuse for not trying.
Run around Marcus, track back, put a tackle in, look interested. Fans would gave a lot more respect.
We pay our hard earned money to go to United and it's going to piss people off when someone on £350k doesn't appear to give a shit.

 

[RoadTrip]

Selling Rashford isn’t suddenly going to make us better. People acting like this is the golden ticket are deluded.

BUT - sell him we must, in my opinion. Two main reasons really:

- Players determined to succeed and give it their all don’t come out and say they’re ready for a new challenge after being dropped. That says his head isn’t where it needs to be to return to the potential levels that he could with his talent.
- His wages are not commensurate with his performances. If he was on an average wage then great, I wouldn’t have much issue with him being around. It’s his wage / performance combination which is the real issue.

As I said, it won’t suddenly make us great. But financially and culturally to demonstrate if you’re going to command high wages that you must perform to it, selling him is the right option.

 

[Escobar]

Selling Rashford isn’t suddenly going to make us better. People acting like this is the golden ticket are deluded.

BUT - sell him we must, in my opinion. Two main reasons really:

- Players determined to succeed and give it their all don’t come out and say they’re ready for a new challenge after being dropped. That says his head isn’t where it needs to be to return to the potential levels that he could with his talent.
- His wages are not commensurate with his performances. If he was on an average wage then great, I wouldn’t have much issue with him being around. It’s his wage / performance combination which is the real issue.

As I said, it won’t suddenly make us great. But financially and culturally to demonstrate if you’re going to command high wages that you must perform to it, selling him is the right option.

No one is saying that at all, bo idea where you have that from. People are saying his poor attitude and poor form over several seasons is unacceptable hence we need to sell

 

[Xeque_279]

Selling Rashford isn’t suddenly going to make us better. People acting like this is the golden ticket are deluded.

BUT - sell him we must, in my opinion. Two main reasons really:

- Players determined to succeed and give it their all don’t come out and say they’re ready for a new challenge after being dropped. That says his head isn’t where it needs to be to return to the potential levels that he could with his talent.
- His wages are not commensurate with his performances. If he was on an average wage then great, I wouldn’t have much issue with him being around. It’s his wage / performance combination which is the real issue.

As I said, it won’t suddenly make us great. But financially and culturally to demonstrate if you’re going to command high wages that you must perform to it, selling him is the right option.

Amen, agree with both points.

While it's true that him leaving won't make us better, it will give us a chance to move on. We won't have to shoehorn him in the team even when he's in bad form and keep waiting for the "Real Marcus" to show up. The profit on selling him and the wages will also allow to spend big on that position, get a proper marquee player that will fit the team. Kvara or Rodrygo would be dream signings.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Similar story story as with Lukaku, Lingard, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Martial, etc.

End of the day, scapegoating and selling these players has done little for our actual progress. In fact, we have gone backwards since some of the players I mentioned.

All that really matters is if we can get it together on the pitch, and if Amorim can actually deliver. Focusing on an individual player and trying to hound them out has not, and will not help us.

It's funny though how it's the exact same-ish pattern every time, with massive vitriol and then huge relief when the player finally goes... only for us to still be average.

Fingers crossed though. Maybe this time it'll be different and getting rid of Rashford actually takes us where we need to go.

You’re really missing the point here. Getting rid of players won’t improve a team. Why would it? All it does is free up wages and a space in the squad to sign a replacement who will hopefully be better. That’s the difficult bit and what the club have often got wrong. But when it happens the team definitely gets better.

We obviously won’t improve unless we sign good players but that’s irrelevant to whether or not Rashford merits a place in Amorim’s squad. And when you look at the performances of players like Amad, Mazrouai and Ugarte it confirms that we are actually capable of signing good players.

 

[Woodywizz]

You’re really missing the point here. Getting rid of players won’t improve a team. Why would it? All it does is free up wages and a space in the squad to sign a replacement who will hopefully be better. That’s the difficult bit and what the club have often got wrong. But when it happens the team definitely gets better.

We obviously won’t improve unless we sign good players but that’s irrelevant to whether or not Rashford merits a place in Amorim’s squad. And when you look at the performances of players like Amad, Mazrouai and Amad it confirms that we are actually capable of signing good players.

I wish we did have two Amads tbf.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I wish we did have two Amads tbf.

Me too!

Fixed that now.

 

[stevoc]

It is more appealing to clubs because you get the lump sum upfront, then can amortize the cost of the players you bring in over multiple years. You do that when you need to strengthen in multiple positions and you dont have the cash or much room because of the PSR cap.

I understand the financial logic but this club is all about producing it's own players. You don't sell two of the most promising Academy products in years to make FFP a bit easier.

Imagine if FFP had been around in the 90's and we'd sold Scholes and Giggs to fund a few transfers. Garnacho and Mainoo will probably never reach their level but the same logic applies, you don't sell your top young players that you've spent years producing just to replace them to make a few quid.

 

[stevoc]

Selling Rashford isn’t suddenly going to make us better. People acting like this is the golden ticket are deluded.

BUT - sell him we must, in my opinion. Two main reasons really:

- Players determined to succeed and give it their all don’t come out and say they’re ready for a new challenge after being dropped. That says his head isn’t where it needs to be to return to the potential levels that he could with his talent.
- His wages are not commensurate with his performances. If he was on an average wage then great, I wouldn’t have much issue with him being around. It’s his wage / performance combination which is the real issue.

As I said, it won’t suddenly make us great. But financially and culturally to demonstrate if you’re going to command high wages that you must perform to it, selling him is the right option.

To be fair since taking over the club Ineos have twice briefed that they're open/looking to sell him in the space of 6 months.

 

[RoadTrip]

No one is saying that at all, bo idea where you have that from. People are saying his poor attitude and poor form over several seasons is unacceptable hence we need to sell

It’s pretty prevalent. Sure no one thinks we will become title contenders by selling him but it’s clear that many feel he is a key cog in our underperformance. Which may be partly true but selling Rashford for the lack of effort and production should be seen as one step in a cultural / team reset which alone really doesn’t do much in terms of on field impact at least immediately. Needs to be done, 100%, though.

 

[RoadTrip]

To be fair since taking over the club Ineos have twice briefed that they're open/looking to sell him in the space of 6 months.

Being open to, and looking to, are two incredibly different things. What’s the specific wording and the source?

 

[Judas]

I don't care that I seem to be in the minority but I'm really unhappy about this. I was at Rashford's debut against Midtjylland, will never forget being like "who?" when his name was read out. I love the guy, he's a United man and always will be. Sentimental nonsense? Yeah, sure.

His performances have been shit, I'm not disputing that, but I really wish it wasn't ending like this.

It's sad, but ultimately he's in control of his destiny? He doesn't want to fight and work hard here, so it's done. To come out so quickly and put this piece together says it all sadly. He wants out, instead of turning things around here under a very promising coach.

 

[UnitedFan94]

Incredible that the race card has been played, that’s so poor.

Rashford gets criticised not because he is black but because he has been utterly shit on the pitch week in and week out for the last 2 years and he’s compounded this with a sullen entitled attitude whilst picking up the biggest wage of any player in the club.

I’m not doubting that Marcus and other black players both at United and elsewhere across football’s top leagues have suffered racist abuse. It’s unfortunately inevitable on social media where people have the ability to hide behind an avi and fake name.

I think the treatment of Maguire undermines the argument of Rashford being targeted purely because of racism though. Maguire struggled at United in his first few seasons, and there’s no doubt he didn’t help some of it by cupping his ears against the likes of San Marino or whoever it was and making the odd comment to journalists, but I always felt with Maguire that what you were seeing on the pitch was him trying his best. For me Maguire’s biggest problem was a confidence issue, not a lack of ability or even worse, a lack of effort.

For Rashford I think the main reason he invoked such a poor response from fans is we’ve seen how good he can be, we saw how good he was when Van Gaal introduced him at 16/17. We saw his true potential under Ten Hag in his first season but it’s just felt like every time he’s had a good spell of form, he feels it’s bought him time to just coast and do the bare minimum.