Are we supposed to believe every leak we read that absolves players who've been poor under multiple managers now? There's a distinct pattern here.
Who gets absolved here though? The manager, for some reason, is letting Rashford not track back - either by design or by wilful ignorance. There's no consequence for not working hard defensively. We'll probably see Rashford play against Chelsea. Players are doing silly things like stopping their tracking back in midfield every single game, and the manager does nothing about it. Either it's part of their instructions, which is his fault, or it's allowing players to ignore instructions with no consequences, which is also his fault.
He doesn't HAVE to play these players if they are letting him down. He has alternatives that will work hard, even if they aren't as talented. He's sticking with them because they have the most talent. Many of them should have been replaced ages ago, but the least he could do is make it clear that if you don't perform you don't play. If Rashford isn't following instructions, sit him out. If Martial isn't even trying, replace him with a kid. We might not become a better team for it, but accepting poor performances just feeds player power. I wil conceede that the club has failed him in terms of recruitment, we should have replaced a lot of these players and given him quality alternatives to play. Unfortunately we messed that up.