Why criticism of Rashford is unfair

Rockets Redglare

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He’s very fast, but he doesn’t use his speed efficiently. To me he’s just another headless chicken who wants the ball at his feet but doesn’t know what to do with it.

He’s also far too greedy and wants to shoot from everywhere, and whoever lets him take free-kicks should be sacked.
 

RussellWilson

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Beyond running in behind his movement is crap which is why he doesn't get any 'easy' chances. Since he's played up front and teams have sat in on us denying us breaking opportunities he just hangs around on the edge of the box thinking he's some sort of false 9. How many runs does he make near and far post in the box? Hardly any. You won't get goals without good movement in the box and as others have pointed out is heading and finishing is crap.
 

Okey

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I think it's the people who keep telling him he's better than he actually is that are being unfair to him. 21 going on 22 now isn't he? Any top player's peak would be discernible by now. He's good, but nowhere near great, and no evidence he'll get there. Good squad option for us going forward, behind a proper top striker. And I agree...whoever lets him take free kicks should be promptly sacked!
 

Greck

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The hate comes because his decision making is unapologetically awful.

There's also the frustration with the coaching staff for being part of those enabling this flaw. Is it too much to ask for a United manager who isn't in love with a massively flawed striker? Rooney, Lukaku and now Rashford playing 90mins every game
 

redsunited

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Premier League 2018-19 stats (premierleague.com)
Sterling: Goal Scored - 17, Big Chances missed - 8
Rashford: Goal Scored - 10, Big Chances missed - 16

Rashford had more chances to score than Sterling this season as he played as the main striker in majority of the games.
 

Marrakesh

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I would have zero qualms about him moving on even if he wasn't being unrealistic about his new contract. He's not consistent enoigh a finisher to be our main striker. He's not good enough on the ball or at crossing to be our starting winger/wide-forward. My mind boggles at his reported demands.
 

RedCurry

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Build up play is bad and all strikers miss chances. But the absolute elite just get into positions where passes will reach them. That’s an intangible which is hard to put in stats.

Just watch Greenwood in the last game and see how for some reason all our chances fell to him, and he’s a 17 year old rookie. Put a prime RVP in this team and he’d make some goals look routine, whereas our current strikers don’t even get in those positions.
 

haram

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Depends on what the criticism is. People were crying for him to play up front and now they want to call him garbage.
 

SadlerMUFC

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When Ole took over we were playing a 4-3-3 and we had wingers making runs. Then we switched to a 4-4-2 diamond and lost our width. Even when we played a 4-3-3 late in the season we had nobody making runs. Everything was played to feet. We need more players making runs and getting to the byline for low crosses and cut back passes. Instead, we pass the ball around the top of the 18 and when we finally get the ball wide our opponent has 9 guys in the box to cut off the cross. We need to play faster and play wide more, then I suspect Rashford will get more goals...
 

shahzy

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knowing how big his ego is and how he's the managers little "rashy" and always plays irks people the wrong way. In reality he will be another Welbeck. Never good enough but persisted with for a few years too many because of being a "Local Lad"
 

pablo__p

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I get that we are not creative enough and too often it's down to individual brilliance or luck when we score. Thing is that's what top strikers do - they take chances, they anticipate things and score out of nothing. I thought the reference to Solskjaer is a very good one. Rashford should have videos of his manager on the permanent loop and study his movement, intelligence and finishing. At this point he's simply not meeting standards expected from top6, heck top half PL strikers.
 

In Rainbows

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Rashford will get better. Whether that ever becomes good enough for United's first choice, who knows. I'm not expecting that from him, but I would gladly take him as a squad player. I'm wishing Greenwood becomes the real deal 3 years from now. If it's possible to sign a great striker I would be all for it that way Greenwood can develop at his own pace.
 

Raees

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I remember getting stick for saying his bottom level was that of a championship player and I still stand by that.

When he’s on form he’s a good outlet and he can be a threat against anyone but he’s just not that intelligent or technically consistent enough to carry out the fundamentals to a 6/7 out of 10 every game and be a reliable focal point the team can play around.

What irks me is that people compare him to other great youngsters of the past and say they too had to iron out their deficiencies - trust me from a coaches perspective he is so raw at this age when most great footballers or ones of the quality you’d associate with United are technically already pretty much fully formed by this age and they will add certain weapons and refine certain techniques but predominantly they can be relied upon to control a ball, pass generally at the right time and they won’t lose the ball 7 times out of 10 each time they have possession. He’s much more raw than Rooney, Ronaldo even likes of Torres, Shearer, Cole etc at the same age.

Ronaldo at 18 or Rooney was technically on another planet to Rashford in terms of their consistency on the ball. The thing they had to mature was that decision making but even then we are talking about guys whose decision making was way better than the average PL footballer and it was on the European stage against likes of AC Milan where we needed to see them improve. Rashford decision making most of the time is not better than your average relegation battling striker.

His only chance of making it is being humble and being a late bloomer. It’s not impossible but he needs a dose of reality very soon to put him back on a good development path otherwise he’s going to sink fast.
 

AgentP

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Premier League 2018-19 stats (premierleague.com)
Sterling: Goal Scored - 17, Big Chances missed - 8
Rashford: Goal Scored - 10, Big Chances missed - 16

Rashford had more chances to score than Sterling this season as he played as the main striker in majority of the games.
He's missed plenty of easy chances, especially headers. Ole needs to help him improve his finishing during preseason.
 

Esquire

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So the latest seems to be that he is not confident of the direction under OGS and thus stalling talks. Fecking hell when Rooney at his height pulled that crap he got killed by the fans. If he is half of what Rooney was he can speak up but man the hype has gone to his head. I can see the potential but feck me he is arrogant of these rumours are true. And he can feck off accordingly.
 

Freak

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So the latest seems to be that he is not confident of the direction under OGS and thus stalling talks. Fecking hell when Rooney at his height pulled that crap he got killed by the fans. If he is half of what Rooney was he can speak up but man the hype has gone to his head. I can see the potential but feck me he is arrogant of these rumours are true. And he can feck off accordingly.
You're basing it off a report from The Sun.

The Sun.

Think about that.
 

Glideman

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Rashford isn't good enough to start for Manchester United. Lets not get blinded by potential, he should really be coming off the bench or playing cup games.
 

nameischarles

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Ashley barnes has outscored this guy for 3 season running and yet we compare him to mbappe
People want him to be like Mbappe because of their age, speed, size, and potential. But I just don't see it with him, he has flashes that he can be good not a star but good enough however he misses so many chances and he isn't very smart on the pitch.

I think Mason will be that striker we all hoped Rashford will be but I'm happy to be proven wrong and I hope he does.
 

devilish

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Danny should focus on playing on the flanks. His finishing isn't good enough for upfront.
 

RedRonaldo

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He is overrated and overhyped. He still very good for his age though, but not really what people made him of. I think the situation is similar to Welbeck, who was highly rated when he first broke into the scene, but end up being just an average player in league.
 

Volumiza

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We need to sign a better winger / right sided forward and a better striker then bench Rashford. He’s just not good enough at this stage.

The criticism is totally fair. Every player can have ‘flat spots’ but he exudes this strange air of entitlement and his form has been poor for far longer than good. He is not a match winner. Squad player, no more.
 
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Kill 'em all

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He's not good enough if we aspire to be anything better than a team competing for top 6. He wouldn't start ahead of any of the strikers in the top 4 and wouldn't start instead of any other striker in the top teams in the top leagues.

He's a good squad player to have but if he wants to start week in week out, he's better off to a mid-table club which is his level.
 

Sandikan

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People want him to be like Mbappe because of their age, speed, size, and potential. But I just don't see it with him, he has flashes that he can be good not a star but good enough however he misses so many chances and he isn't very smart on the pitch.

I think Mason will be that striker we all hoped Rashford will be but I'm happy to be proven wrong and I hope he does.
Rashford is only 21 and has about half a season as main striker in a functional team.

It is still too early to write him off
 

Eire Red United

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Rashford’s a great lad, we’ve all seen what he can do i.e. the first while under Ole, but he has been playing through injury for a while and that coupled with the rest of the team being shite lately has obviously seen his form take a dive. I’ve no doubt he’s more than good enough to start for us.
 

dove

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It is fair, no one should be exempt of criticism when they deserve that. He is still young and can surely improve but you can't hide the fact that he is just nowhere near productive enough to be our starting player. What is probably even worse is how selfish he became in the last couple of years, he just completely ignores everyone else around him. But like with the likes of Lingard and Young, it's hardly his fault he is one of the first names on the teamsheet no matter how he plays. He shouldn't play so many games and it's on the management/bad recruitment.
 

Keefy18

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I’ve seen a lot of criticism of Rashford for not being clinical enough and a lot of arguments that he isn’t good enough to lead the line. This is entirely unfair in my opinion and the reason for that is Rashfords problems actually are mostly not his fault but really the fault of our build up and ability to create good chances.

Most teams who score lots of goals do so not because they have extremely clinical strikers but because they create very good chances. A very good chance in my book is a chance where the attacker has the ball at his feet in a good goal scoring area with time to shoot.
That's nonsense, our best ever forwards also had the ability to create goals from nothing. How often does he do this?

Many of Kane & Aguero's goals are not "very good chances" as you put it. They score a variety of goals from all kinds of angles, often beating multiple defenders. Kane drops deep, carries the ball and scores often from distance or beats players and makes the goal himself.

Likewise Aguero has an incredible ability to score from impossible angles repeatedly every season.

So unless Rashford is square on with the goal, free and open in space with the ball perfectly placed to him he's excused?
 

mewnew11

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I’ve seen a lot of criticism of Rashford for not being clinical enough and a lot of arguments that he isn’t good enough to lead the line. This is entirely unfair in my opinion and the reason for that is Rashfords problems actually are mostly not his fault but really the fault of our build up and ability to create good chances.

Most teams who score lots of goals do so not because they have extremely clinical strikers but because they create very good chances. A very good chance in my book is a chance where the attacker has the ball at his feet in a good goal scoring area with time to shoot. Now analyse the difference between Rashfords goals this season vs Sterling’s goals this season
Look how many of Sterling’s goals are good chances (according to the definition above) vs Rashfords. Rashford has maybe 1 good chance, the one against Newcastle, 2 if you count the Bournemouth one but that was due to a defenders mistake so a bit of luck there. Comparing to Sterling where many many of his goals are tap ins and open goals let alone him just being in the box with time to shoot.

The truth is our build up play is terrible and a huge reason why our strikers look terrible. Rashford in City’s system would score 20 a season, he has the instinct to get into good positions and he’s makes runs all day. Yes he can improve his composure and decision making but tell me how many 21 year olds aren’t like that? He has a bright future but the perspective on him is hampered by how poor our service is to him and how bad we are at shifting defences to give him good opportunities.
Awful post. What service does Rashford provide to others? He is part of the attacking problem at United.

This whole sucking up to rashford and lingard attitude must stop. It's what is destroying the club.
 

The White Pele

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Regarding comments about his selfish tendencies he does strike me as being very individualistic. I see the same single-minded mentality in him that I see in the likes of Ronaldo, Kane, Bale. The same determination to improve facets of his game rather than focusing too much on what’s going on around him.

Now I’m not suggesting he is destined to get anywhere near that level in Ronaldo’s case. But it’s also true to say that those players would not have got to the level they are at without “selfishly” trying to implement things on the pitch that they individually had been trying to perfect in training. It actually takes a certain courage trying outrageous things in a match situation that they know have a low probability of execution.

None of those players were natural freaks like Messi. They have got to their level through a ton of hard work.

They could all have been very good players playing it safe and just taking the easy pass, taking the easy opportunities. But they never would have been at the level they are now without trying low percentage plays on the pitch and having a big enough personality to handle the short-term frustrations of their teammates and supporters.

Rashford would be a better player than he is now taking the easy options. But if he is to join the elite then get used to him frustrating you with his “selfishness” for a while.
 

Web of Bissaka

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Like always, it depends on the criticism, specifics.
Some criticism is unfair.
I have no problem with the deserved criticism.

Why criticism of Rashford is fair --> his limitations, decision makings and growing selfishness.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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His 'greediness' came when Rashford started playing as a winger for Jose. This is also the time when he started to over complicate things on the pitch and making wrong decisions. Under LVG - all Rashford was doing is finishing off chances at the right place at the right time. Rashford is not meant to be played as a single striker like Aguero or Kane - he is made to play in a modern day partnership using channels to target spaces and finishing from angles.

I look at what Pep has done with Sterling & I feel that Rashford could be bought up to play in the same way.