Marcus Rashford accused of not having football as his main priority

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·27. September 2024

Marcus Rashford accused of not having football as his main priority

Marcus Rashford has been thrown all sorts of criticism but one that usually irks the Manchester United forward is being accused of not prioritising his football.

You can understand why it would upset a professional football for people to think their eye wasn’t on the ball.

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That is exactly how Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink thinks about Rashford after questioning his devotion to the beautiful game.

The 26-year-old’s performances in recent weeks have improved, with goals and assists, but that won’t be enough to silence the critics just yet.

Rashford has been dealing with negative press ever since his late-night session in Belfast last year.

Former Chelsea star Hasselbaink fears that Rashford is not willing to ‘push himself’ to take his game to the next level.

“When you look at Marcus Rashford and you look at his body language, and I’m not saying this is true, but it looks like football is not his main priority,” he said to Genting Casino. “Do we know if Rashford can play football? Yes. Hell yes. When he’s playing off the left and he’s playing his best football, he’s a very, very good player. He’s a top player. When he was at his top level, he used to sprint so much and run in behind the defence. He used to work so hard running at defenders, scaring defenders. That’s when Marcus is at his best and I just don’t see that enough anymore.

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“For a player like Rashford, when one of your main attributes is that explosive pace, you have to suffer for your art. You have to be prepared to give everything to work as hard with and without the ball, and that means, you need to feel a little bit of pain because it takes a lot of physical power to ask your body to do that in every single game. I don’t see a player that is willing to push himself like he used to, and he needs to get that back. He needs to get back to being a menace with and without the ball. He needs to work harder on the defensive part of the game. There is no doubt that Marcus Rashford has the ability. It’s a mental thing. It’s about unlocking his mind and mentally.”

Hasselbaink clearly hasn’t watched Rashford in a few weeks – or since last season, if he’s still questioning the players demeanour on the pitch.

In the first-half against FC Twente, Rashford oozed confidence and his performance deserved a goal.

I think there are ex-pros who get a thrill out of slagging off current players.

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