[Andersons Dietician]

He ruined his own decent performance by once again just jogging back, not tracking or just watching some one pull in to space. There were times when he did and he was putting pressure on people and then he switches off and we get punished. Goal wasn’t his fault lots went wrong but stop crosses at source.

 

[D. Grayson]

It's not when you compare him to say, Martinelli, Diaz, Gordon, etc. They do both and Rashford still doesn't match their attacking output.

All of their combined goals and assists in the league add up to 122, Rashford currently has 123 goals and assists in the league.

 

[clarkydaz]

He does realise that he allowed Rashford to barely defend for a year and a half?

Also Garnacho is barely any improvement and we conceded the 3rd goal and another chance from that very same wing.

Does this put to bed the notion he is allowed to not defend tactically?

 

[Drainy]

When our defenders do some defending I’ll worry about our forwards doing it.

Why worry with fire safety, if the firefighters are not performing

 

[Lash]

All of their combined goals and assists in the league add up to 122, Rashford currently has 123 goals and assists in the league.

I'm obviously talking about their most recent form. I wouldn't be complaining about Rashford if he was hitting close to previous seasons bests.

 

[Posh Red]

I'm obviously talking about their most recent form. I wouldn't be complaining about Rashford if he was hitting close to previous seasons bests.

To be fair, Martinelli’s numbers have been very poor for a while.

 

[Lash]

To be fair, Martinelli’s numbers have been very poor for a while.

Yeah, but he makes up for that by covering the whole flank and putting in a huge shift defensively. There's a reason he's played in Arteta's big games. There's always going to be trade offs, but even with rice and partey in midfield, he's still expected to track back.

 

[lsd]

I want to see Rashford running at defenders taking them on scoring goals and assisting.

Tracking back is not what I'm looking for in him

 

[lilcurt]

I want to see Rashford running at defenders taking them on scoring goals and assisting.

Tracking back is not what I'm looking for in him

He isn't good enough a player to be carried.

 

[acnumber9]

Why worry with fire safety, if the firefighters are not performing

When the house is already on fire I’d say the firefighters are slightly more important.

 

[Herman Toothrot]

I don't give a shit if our only good forward doesn't track back. The idea you can have someone bursting beyond the last man and running back to dig his defense out is utter bollocks..

But its Rashford isn't it?

 

[Drainy]

When the house is already on fire I’d say the firefighters are slightly more important.

Why not stop the arsonist from setting fire to your house before the firefighters are even needed?

 

[pratyush_utd]

I don't give a shit if our only good forward doesn't track back. The idea you can have someone bursting beyond the last man and running back to dig his defense out is utter bollocks..

But its Rashford isn't it?

He isnt. How many times this has to be repeated? He was decent in like a season and half. Seems like lot of revisionism happening here .

And if you dont care player performing roles in the team because they are your favourite, then you dont get to criticise anyone else in the team. Martinez is directly affected by Dalot and Rashford not doing their job properly, but he is getting hammered in his performance thread. Rashford should not escape criticism because of some misplaced notion that he is our “best forward”. He isnt, atleast not right now. His performances dont justify free role ( just like Bruno)

And before Rashford PR jumps on this, i believe the current tactics do not favour him ( or Garnacho and Amad) and should be tweaked to support our attacking players

 

[Longshanks]

In all honesty I don't my left winger one of my main attacking threats, who best ability is breaking the defensive line, In the left back position making questionable defensive contributions. Because well guess what he isn't a defender.

We didn't concede two goals in 7 mins last night because of Rashford, but we did score 2 goals in the first half thanks to Rashford (and admittedly Diego Costa). And being as though his main job his to score goals and create chances, and he could do had more in the first half aswell. Than hooking him off for questionable defensive contributions is the ultimate in backwards management.

Next I guess we should drop mazouri because he does sweet FA in attack for us.

 

[Herman Toothrot]

He isnt. How many times this has to be repeated? He was decent in like a season and half. Seems like lot of revisionism happening here .

And if you dont care player performing roles in the team because they are your favourite, then you dont get to criticise anyone else in the team. Martinez is directly affected by Dalot and Rashford not doing their job properly, but he is getting hammered in his performance thread. Rashford should not escape criticism because of some misplaced notion that he is our “best forward”. He isnt, atleast not right now. His performances dont justify free role ( just like Bruno)

And before Rashford PR jumps on this, i believe the current tactics do not favour him ( or Garnacho and Amad) and should be tweaked to support our attacking players

He was tearing Porto apart. He was the best forward on the pitch. It's indisputable.

 

[Malons]

You can't deny he looked threatening first half. Everything is caveated by contrast to his own performance standards, however. But for him, it was his best outting for a while.

 

[Musclehead]

He isnt. How many times this has to be repeated? He was decent in like a season and half. Seems like lot of revisionism happening here .

And if you dont care player performing roles in the team because they are your favourite, then you dont get to criticise anyone else in the team. Martinez is directly affected by Dalot and Rashford not doing their job properly, but he is getting hammered in his performance thread. Rashford should not escape criticism because of some misplaced notion that he is our “best forward”. He isnt, atleast not right now. His performances dont justify free role ( just like Bruno)

And before Rashford PR jumps on this, i believe the current tactics do not favour him ( or Garnacho and Amad) and should be tweaked to support our attacking players

I think your last statement pretty much says it all. The tactics, or lack thereof, do not play to his strengths. I really have no idea why anyone would expect him to be fundamentally sound defensively and rely on his tracking, he is there to score, period. Defenders incompetence is not good reasoning and continually sending Dalot up high or in the middle hurts the team time and time again. Rashford has speed and potential, the current management does not use him to his strengths, speed up front and he rarely gets useful service. This is called dysfunctional planning and usage. Sure I will agree that some of his shortfalls are his alone, however this guy can be a star or a goat depending on his usage.
One thing I will state, an almost bright point with Hojlund, he made a play where he fought off a guy just before midfield and was flying that reminded me of Ruud in the day. The only thing missing was the hair. My first thought was "Wow, RVN is paying off". Then as he approached the box rather that push it in 1v1, he fricken stopped and the play fizzled to nothing. WTH??

 

[D. Grayson]

I'm obviously talking about their most recent form. I wouldn't be complaining about Rashford if he was hitting close to previous seasons bests.

If we had any other goal threat I would be more concerned about Rashford's defensive shortcomings but as it stands he seems to be our sharpest tool in attack.

 

[D. Grayson]

He isnt. How many times this has to be repeated? He was decent in like a season and half. Seems like lot of revisionism happening here .

And if you dont care player performing roles in the team because they are your favourite, then you dont get to criticise anyone else in the team. Martinez is directly affected by Dalot and Rashford not doing their job properly, but he is getting hammered in his performance thread. Rashford should not escape criticism because of some misplaced notion that he is our “best forward”. He isnt, atleast not right now. His performances dont justify free role ( just like Bruno)

And before Rashford PR jumps on this, i believe the current tactics do not favour him ( or Garnacho and Amad) and should be tweaked to support our attacking players

The number of career goals and assists he has does not correlate with being decent for a season and a half. How did he manage to achieve 135 club goals and 62 club assists while only being good for a season and a half?

 

[acnumber9]

Why not stop the arsonist from setting fire to your house before the firefighters are even needed?

Again, whose responsibility is that? Should I ask a paramedic to stop the arsonist or should I ask the police?

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Subbing him at half time was absolutely mental.

You know what Erik, if you're annoyed by his defensive work - why not grab him when the ball is dead and tell him to track-back more? Why not do some actual management from the touchline? And don't say "well he might have done that" becuase lets be honest, we have enough evidence over the last 2 years to know that ETH mostly does sweet feck all from the touchline.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Subbing him at half time was absolutely mental.

It's not that mental when you've sat through over 2 years of ETH.

 

[Ljungster]

People really need to get a grip... He did 1+1 in 45 min and could have had 2+2 and was our best outlet in attack. His primary target is to score and assist goals and he did that. People should watch Liverpool, they leave Salah high up the pitch, and that is with Trent who is arguably bad in defence but instead they let one of the midfielders help out on the wing in defence. How anyone expects Rashford to first be all the way home in defence and then be in the front for a counterattack is really stupid.

Stop blaming Rashford for the absolute hopeless tactics and set up from ETH..

 

[Smores]

The sub really only made sense as a punishment. I reckon the pre-match instructions were for Rashford to play more as a winger but he did his own thing undermining Ten Hag. Do I blame Rashford for that? Absolutely not as Ten Hags tactics are shit.

We all know Rashford is a liability defensively, if you play him you have to set us up to limit that not expose it further.

 

[Roboc7]

ETH has spent so much time playing him when he was playing terribly. Yet two of his best performance recently have resulted in him being subbed off at half time with the scores level last night and then rested against Palace after scoring twice against Barnsley.

For all his flaws Rashford is the player most likely to provide a lot of goals, yet as soon as he has shown some signs of form it has faulted on him being rested. Like so much with ETH it just doesn’t make any sense.

 

[pratyush_utd]

The number of career goals and assists he has does not correlate with being decent for a season and a half. How did he manage to achieve 135 club goals and 62 club assists while only being good for a season and a half?

He has not been great for a season and half. I never disputed he is a good player. But some comments here are laughable because they cant get over hero worshipping. Rashford has been ordinary in attack and contributes very little in defence. Combine him with Bruno and you see why we struggle in defence.

 

[pratyush_utd]

The sub really only made sense as a punishment. I reckon the pre-match instructions were for Rashford to play more as a winger but he did his own thing undermining Ten Hag. Do I blame Rashford for that? Absolutely not as Ten Hags tactics are shit.

We all know Rashford is a liability defensively, if you play him you have to set us up to limit that not expose it further

But then where should he play? He is not good enough as forward, doesn’t do his duties as winger. Can we really afford him as a luxury player along with Bruno who plays wherever he wants to?

Either one of Bruno or Rashford has to be dropped if we have to gain any sense of control. I know one good game with both of them together and people will jump on how they are targeted here, but we have seen them play for 4 -5 years now and it has never worked for longer period of time.

Every top team need their players to do both defensive and offensive duties. Very few players around the world get away with not doing defensive duties. And Rashford is not that good to be given that pass

 

[Grande]

I'm obviously talking about their most recent form. I wouldn't be complaining about Rashford if he was hitting close to previous seasons bests.

I would. No team can afford a player who doesn’t manage to follow the team tactics.

I think it needs to be said that Rashford was our best attacking player in the last third by far yesterday. I think it also needs to be said that he was the main reason we lost control of the game. Both Porto goals and several of their beat chances came from the same spot and in the same way, Rashford was out of position and Dalot and Eriksen were 2 vs 3 on the left side of defence.

Ten Hag is clearly to blame for thinking that a midfield of Eriksen and Casemiro 2024 versions can cover for a defensively deeply deficient player, and also to fail to see that Dalot has been playing sub par consistently for a fair few games on the tror nd looks honestly a bit drained to me.

That doesn’t remove the fact that Rashford has the defensive responsibilities he has, doesn’t do them even to a basic minimum level, and that leaving FB and CM 2-vs-3 consistently will be punished even if they are Ugarte and Shaw.

For me, on balance, I think without Rashford on the pitch we would easily have gone to the brak with 0-0. He provided our biggest attacking threat and biggest defensive weakness. And for anyone saying he’s not a defender - no, exactly, and for a mainly attacking player to be a teams biggest defensive weakness, he must do some pretty diabolic sabotage of the team’s defence to have that sort of impact, which was just what Marcus did yesterday.

 

[Doracle]

The sub really only made sense as a punishment. I reckon the pre-match instructions were for Rashford to play more as a winger but he did his own thing undermining Ten Hag. Do I blame Rashford for that? Absolutely not as Ten Hags tactics are shit.

We all know Rashford is a liability defensively, if you play him you have to set us up to limit that not expose it further.

To be fair, I thought Rashford was making quite a conscious effort defensively yesterday. He was taking up a clearly instructed position, made a few good blocks/clearances and was generally making a clear effort to get back and help. However, he’s a forward - he’s not very good at defending. If we are seriously so reliant on our left forward providing defensive cover then we need to re-think how we set up.

It’s truly bizarre though. Dalot and Maz offer next to nothing in attack and we play with a holding midfielder. Our attackers are isolated generally but that structure should mean that they are at least freed up to spend their time attacking. Instead we seem to have the worst of both worlds where they get no support AND are somehow seen as absolutely critical to ensuring we don’t get overrun.

 

[Bobade]

I criticise Rashford a lot, but he was good yesterday and hooking him that early was madness.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

I criticise Rashford a lot, but he was good yesterday and hooking him that early was madness.

I’m 99% certain Ten Hag chewed him out for not following the defensive game plan and hooked him.

 

[astracrazy]

I don't give a shit if our only good forward doesn't track back. The idea you can have someone bursting beyond the last man and running back to dig his defense out is utter bollocks..

But its Rashford isn't it?

Well you should because its not coincidence that a lot of goals we concede start from that area of the pitch.

 

[Doracle]

Well you should because its not coincidence that a lot of goals we concede start from that area of the pitch.

I haven’t checked if this is true - please do share the data you are relying on. However, if it is, would you say the fact we don’t have a left back might be something of a factor?

 

[lsd]

I don't give a shit if our only good forward doesn't track back. The idea you can have someone bursting beyond the last man and running back to dig his defense out is utter bollocks..

But its Rashford isn't it?

It's disgusting the hate he gets from our own fans. Can't criticise his attacking anymore they instantly turn to he is terrible defending.

Our fanbase really is so poor at times

 

[Swiss_Red89]

It's disgusting the hate he gets from our own fans. Can't criticise his attacking anymore they instantly turn to he is terrible defending.

Our fanbase really is so poor at times

It's laughable isn't it?
We all know he has weaknesses in defensiv part of games, but he wasn't even really at fault for the goals yesterday.
You would think you have a 200mio defence who copes with crosses and doesn't rely on their forward who put the Team 2:0 up to prevent the crosses.

 

[Smores]

But then where should he play? He is not good enough as forward, doesn’t do his duties as winger. Can we really afford him as a luxury player along with Bruno who plays wherever he wants to?

Either one of Bruno or Rashford has to be dropped if we have to gain any sense of control. I know one good game with both of them together and people will jump on how they are targeted here, but we have seen them play for 4 -5 years now and it has never worked for longer period of time.

Every top team need their players to do both defensive and offensive duties. Very few players around the world get away with not doing defensive duties. And Rashford is not that good to be given that pass

I'd agree with your final point, he has to be on top form for it to be worth it and he hasn't been. Do we switch every time he finds form? Maybe but it's not ideal.

Think only a 433 or 442 makes much sense with Rashford. Then as you say Bruno becomes the issue so he'll need to be a proper CM.

 

[bosnian_red]

Feels like ten hag is actively trying to not let him get in any kind of form or rhythm this season

 

[leoric]

I'm shocked to see people complaining about him last night, he was by far the best forward on the pitch in the first half and looked something like his old self. He is one of the few positives from last night.

Get a grip of yourselves and your own personal agenda and get behind the lad, he is clearly trying to turn things around. Out fans are honestly the worst (online posters at least).

 

[Guv77]

It's disgusting the hate he gets from our own fans. Can't criticise his attacking anymore they instantly turn to he is terrible defending.

Our fanbase really is so poor at times

Stupid and poor.

 

[demetre]

You just know he will turn into prime Ronaldo for the first few months when the new manager comes in.