Has the cult of Rashford become more important than the player?

[roonster09]

He is amazing talent. In a "bad" season he scores 20 goals. But his problem is that he is trying to be what he is not. He is goalscoring inside forward who is trying to play as wide playmaker. When he plays simple he is top player.

But what is playing simple? Same thing is used for Pogba too.

Rashford has flaws, don't think anyone can deny that. Him not making use of his teammates is the biggest one, he just tries to take on players when he can make use of his teammates, their runs, their positions to play one twos and all that but when he takes the risks he is very good too. He should mix them up, just like how Greenwood should mix it up instead of always going for shots (he did tbf to him, he plays passes now and also goes to byline instead of always cutting inside).

 

[roonster09]

United fans are morons. You can see some of the posters in this thread for examples too.

Yeah, grass greener elsewhere comes to my mind. Won't be surprised if these posters rate other players very highly because of highlights and stats, thinking they make right decisions all the time. Also will come up with famous "eye test".

 

[JuriM]

Let the man heal and recover to full fitness and we are back to the Mbappe vs Rashford thread..

 

[KM]

Yeah, grass greener elsewhere comes to my mind. Won't be surprised if these posters rate other players very highly because of highlights and stats, thinking they make right decisions all the time. Also will come up with famous "eye test".

Imagine thinking you know about football and then saying James Maddison is the better footballer

 

[Tarrou]

Last night I watched Marcus Rashfords chat with President Obama and as I watched that interview,i couldn’t help but wonder whether Marcus Rashford the personality is actually more important than Marcus Rashford the player.Please don’t get me wrong,I”m not having a pop at him just because of his shocking performance in the final.Having watched him week in,week out over these last couple of years I feel that he’s almost reached his peak as a footballer.

I honestly can’t see him getting significantly better than this,and i honestly can’t see him reaching the level of someone like a Wayne Rooney.Marcus isn’t even in the same league as Rooney....As a supporter I felt excited to watch a young Wayne Rooney play...I feel the same excitement whenever I watch Greenwood,but Marcus isn’t someone who gives you that feeling.

Ofcourse he’s capable of scoring some stunning goals and he does perform well for a reasonable period of time...But I can never see him becoming the best player at Man United.What do you guys think of Marcus as a footballer?Is he an indispensable part of this United team(Like Rooney was at that age)?Or is he just a cult personality who’s a bit over rated as a player?Whats your view...

He obviously isn't as good as Rooney but he's still a really good player and a fantastic person

we're very lucky to have him

I think we need more depth so we don't have to keep overplaying him and he'll be fine

 

[OleBoiii]

Well this place is just getting progressively worse...

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Rooney is too high a standard to be held to. He's among the greatest ever English, PL and United players to have played the game.

Rashford is a very good player in his own right and we should have expectations of him which are in line with his ability (which is a lot). I think he can sometimes be a bit self indulgent on the pitch, much like Pogba, but without the poor work rate, and that rubs people off the wrong way.

 

[Adisa]

We can discuss his ability but his work off the pitch has nothing to do with it.

 

[11101]

He's a very good talent but he has always been a little overrated by our fanbase. We expected a Giggs but he's closer to Beckham, which is not exactly a terrible thing. Beckham was still a borderline world class player. Give Rashford the ball with space to run and he's one of the best there is but he struggles when he can't do that.

I don't know if he is distracted by the off field stuff, i don't know him, but he is definitely distracted by something. His injury is no doubt a factor but that doesn't fully explain his on pitch demeanor and effort levels of the last few weeks, and especially the Villareal game. He genuinely looks unhappy at the moment.

Whatever it is, he just needs to remember to keep his focus in the right place. He did an interview with RVP a while ago where they talked about how it was not possible to mix outside interests with football, but if you put football first the rest will naturally happen.

 

[Judas]

Finally a thread thats negative about Rashford, it's been hours since we had one. I was getting worried he might be starting to be appreciated around here.

 

[Ixion]

Do people realise he scored over 20 goals this season? He has contributed more than most this season. Maybe you're a bit too obsessed with what he does off the pitch and desperately want to associate what he does on the pitch with off it so you can tell him to "stick to football".

 

[KikiDaKats]

The kid is top top player and genuinely rate him as such, but someone needs to tell him he is no Ronaldo. Not sure making him untouchable like Ole did is the right way to do it.

This is exactly how I feel when I watch him. Poor man management, if you ask me.

 

[Champ]

Over twenty goals, again.

Despite carrying injuries.

Positive activity off the pitch.

The guy should be lauded a hero by the fans of the team he plays for.

Instead due to a few poor games we get this....

 

[Martialfc]

If we want to win the league Rashford isn’t good enough. Rooney, RVP, Ruud, Saha, Hernandez, Tevez give me and of them over Rashford. Rashford is basically a slightly better Danny Welbeck. We need a Harry Kane to go to the next level Rashford can not take us their alone he just isn’t good enough.

 

[roonster09]

Imagine thinking you know about football and then saying James Maddison is the better footballer

Eye test

 

[led_scholes]

He is a good player who needs a prolonged rest. However, I don't think he will ever be a word class player. He has to work more on his decision making for sure too. I always felt that Martial is more talented, and i still believe it, but he has also stagnated, and from the two i would only keep Rashford.

 

[Cloud7]

I'm not good at Photoshop, but this post reminded me of this:

 

[Bebestation]

The fact is United supporters are very shit.

I prefer the way Liverpool fans have a do or die attitude towards their club rather than the way our supporters have a push your player under a train attitude whilst they crave success like a money hungry prozzie.

Ultimately in a year where a Werner and Havertz won a CL - I personally don’t see what Rashford is so lacking in except some better management and rotation when he looks like he needs it. Then you have sterling who i think at the age of 26 looks a worse player than Rashford winning the PL and playing in the final.

oh wait, some people may say that sterling has better footballers intelligence- but at the same time they will complain about how Ole plays with no footballing tactics yet blame Rashford for not passing at the right time or to the right tactics.

The guy is bloody 23 with a bad injury record over the last year - still 20+ goals but some just see other average players with different shirts to be this golden god type of player - just because they don’t spend time watching them at all.

23 years old. Absolutely madness to be put down so early - a player that still produces even when literally his back against a wall.

 

[pacifictheme]

If we want to win the league Rashford isn’t good enough. Rooney, RVP, Ruud, Saha, Hernandez, Tevez give me and of them over Rashford. Rashford is basically a slightly better Danny Welbeck. We need a Harry Kane to go to the next level Rashford can not take us their alone he just isn’t good enough.

Why are you comparing a winger to strikers?

Try Ashley Young, valencia, nani, blomqvist.

See I can do that too.

Rashford isn't world class but he has two 20 goal seasons despite coming back from and playing with injuries, and most of that was from wide left.

He is absolutely good enough to be heavily involved in the first 11 of a title winning team. This thread is a massive nonsense really.

Shame he didn't just get the surgery and miss loads of the season, this place would be making topics about how he's world class and we miss him loads.

 

[sparx99]

I think he’s a decent player but the idea he’s going to being become a lynchpin of a team genuinely challenging for major honours looks increasingly delusional.

I’m not sure that’s fair actually. Personally I think he’s just as good as Sterling and Sterling has been a key player in multiple trophy wins.

With regards to the injury talk it’s been said he may need surgery after the euros. Which if that’s the case he shouldn’t be playing at the euros full stops. He hasn’t looked the same player since the back injury. Just before that injury he had seemingly taken a solid step forward.

 

[RUCK4444]

Two 20 goal seasons back to back playing with or returning from injuries, with 15 assists last season as well. From left wing.

Imagine what he would be like if he could stay fit?

There is no shame in not being ronaldo or Rooney and I am not sure anyone expects him to be, but he's not the issue in our team.

We need some depth so he doesn't have to play through injuries.

I agree. Multiple friends who are fans of other clubs have mentioned to me that they think we as a fanbase don’t really appreciate what we have in Rashford.

I don’t think we can downplay him having to play through these injuries and how much this may have taken away from him over the course of a season.

He’s a very good player, potential to kick on to another level as well considering the injuries and how he’s still maintained a good goal scoring return during that time.

 

[Mike Smalling]

I'm not good at Photoshop, but this post reminded me of this:

Thought exactly the same

Fit & Healthy might be a bit of a stretch, but I suppose it was for Michael Owen as well.

 

[2mufc0]

I think Ole has managed him poorly, eg. Not subbing or dropping him when he's poor and also playing him knowing he's injured/knackered.

Personally I would like him to miss the euros and have a good long rest for next season and Ole to wake up in this respect as Rashford isn't the only player he is running into the ground.

 

[Massive Spanner]

He's a talented 23 year old who probably hasn't quite reached the potential yet that some thought he would after such a blistering start to his career, but is still capable of being a top player when he peaks. He's also been asked to be a key player at a side going through constant transition which doesn't exactly help.

It's mad that people are still so quick so write off 22/23 year old talents even after seeing Luke Shaw this season.

 

[sparx99]

Development comes with games. He’s closing in on 300 games for club and country and we’re talking about hoping be develops better “pitch awareness”. That tells you all you need to know

If you’re 24 (or close to) have that many games under your belt and you’re still being spoke about in those terms then by itself that’s problematic

We used to talk about players peaking between 27-31.

Wasn’t the likes of De Bruyne being sold by Chelsea at a similar age to a Rashford because of his poor decision making and shooting too much? Mo Salah was still at Roma. Sadio Mane was at Southampton at a his age not moving to Liverpool until 25-26.

I think we make the mistake of expecting youth team players to have reached their peak sooner because we see so much of them. If Rashford was having this level of performance at a smaller club he’d be on a number of lists of transfer targets.

 

[flappyjay]

If we want to win the league Rashford isn’t good enough. Rooney, RVP, Ruud, Saha, Hernandez, Tevez give me and of them over Rashford. Rashford is basically a slightly better Danny Welbeck. We need a Harry Kane to go to the next level Rashford can not take us their alone he just isn’t good enough.

Slightly better that Welbeck? Look at all you Rashford bashers. The one guy who said there are morons on this forum is right. Put the weed down my man.

 

[tenpoless]

I'm not good at Photoshop, but this post reminded me of this:

I didnt see "friends with Obama".

 

[Lee565]

It's not just a united thing, I fully expect him to also start for england despite better options for the left wing for england and believe the do gooder pr behind him does make both the english and united managers afraid of backlash in dropping him. We saw the same thing with Beckham in his latter years where his pr image would make it hard for managers to drop him with it being scrutinised and made a big deal of.

 

[flappyjay]

Shaw

The irony in using a player who most of this forum considered midtable just a year ago. Got over his injuries and is class. When do we let Rashford get over his. And then Maddison of all people, really?

 

[Posh Red]

Ask his England team mates what they think of Rashford. The posts in this thread are bat shit mental. It’s like walking into an alternative reality

 

[dinostar77]

Hasn't rashford been carrying injuries related to his back this season? Probably needs rest more than anything and letting it heal and recover.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

We have one of the most toxic fanbases in football.

 

[clarkydaz]

Hasn't rashford been carrying injuries related to his back this season? Probably needs rest more than anything and letting it heal and recover.

this is really a concern, especially since playing with that back fracture previous season. Thing is he relies on pace, if he loses a yard he is half the player

 

[jderbyshire]

How can you say he's reached his peak though?

He's 23, none of us have any idea what he will be playing like in 5-6 years.

 

[Zoo]

What a mean-spirited thread title.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

This is just a thread version of the usual "stick to footy mate" posts you see on any of his social media posts.

Declaring that a 23 year old has reached his peak is also absurd, particularly as the season that has just finished was his best in terms of goal involvements.

 

[Gonçalo Motta]

Tbh I think his main "issue" as player is that his head is not 100% in the game. For me sometimes it feels like he is a part time player because he has way to much going on in his life.

Can't complain too much since he is using his status as a plataform to help others and make a real difference.

I think that this level is a good as it gets for him although I believe he has the tools to be a better player.

 

[Bobcat]

The problem with Rashford is that the worse his form is, the more selfish he gets and the more he overcomplicates things and tries to do it all on his own. Like he belives if he just gets a goal hes going to turn it around.

Considering hes been playing through injury and is probably knackered, you get a situation where hes had a prolonged period of poor form, and hes making many wrong calls because of it.

His off the pitch work is admirable, but honestly i dont think hes rated higher as a footballer because of it

 

[Chabon]

If we want to win the league Rashford isn’t good enough. Rooney, RVP, Ruud, Saha, Hernandez, Tevez give me and of them over Rashford. Rashford is basically a slightly better Danny Welbeck. We need a Harry Kane to go to the next level Rashford can not take us their alone he just isn’t good enough.

Welbeck was good enough to be an important part of a side that won the league, and also a side that should have won the league. And the same is true of Rashford, but that’s the (to my mind entirely fair) point of this thread, he’s not a leading man, but has somehow developed the reputation of one.

His being allowed to take penalties pre-Bruno deluded people last year. He’s a 10 league goal a season player. Which is fine, if you also have a proper goal scorer in the team.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Does genuinely admirable work off the pitch, gets admired = it's a cult.

Delivers 0.8 g/a per 90m in a season nobody claims was anything special for him = barely better than Welbeck.