Roy Keane is a good man to listen to about discipline and indeed success at Manchester United. He has seen both sides of both. But recently, when the former United captain described Marcus Rashford as an easy target for criticism, he was wrong.
Rashford, the United striker, is not an easy target, he is quite the opposite. Whether you are a fan, his manager or simply a member of the media, it is actually very important to criticize Rashford for his position at the club, his status as an academy player with a warm backstory and of course, because of all the work he did for schoolchildren during the Covid pandemic.
So the reality is that if you’re going to come for Rashford, you better have a good reason and you better not fail. And even if he doesn’t, he should be prepared for a backlash.
Rashford, however, doesn’t see things this way. In fact, he would seem to be on the same side of this debate as Keane. Rashford, rightly or wrongly, seems to believe that he is being victimized.
According to a raw, passionate and quite sincere article published on his behalf on the Players’ Tribute platform on Thursday, Rashford believes people have it in for him.
Marcus Rashford has claimed that the media “uses a tone that you don’t get with all the footballers” around him in an article in the Players’ Tribune.
Rashford’s essay is written from the heart and reads as a plea for love, but also as an excuse for rudeness and questionable behavior.
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Despite his poor recent form and a disciplinary issue that saw him miss an important FA Cup match, Rashford feels he is treated differently. Because of his color? Because of your background? He doesn’t say it. But he feels it regardless
“There is a tone that you don’t get with all footballers,” Rashford said yesterday. “Let’s leave it that way.”
This is an interesting tactic from the 26-year-old. His delicately written polemic reads a bit like a plea for love, for understanding. It’s clearly from the heart and he has every right to say it.
In particular, he seems upset that his commitment to United is being questioned. By whom exactly, he doesn’t explain, but it’s not hard to understand how that can hurt.
However, your essay also seems like an excuse for poor form and some questionable behavior. As such, it is a gamble. As a sportsman, it is always wise to speak from a position of strength and that is currently not a privilege Rashford enjoys.
If goals are a striker’s currency, then Rashford is currently broke. Only five in the Premier League this season have done little for their own season or even their team’s.
His work rate has been questioned by supporters and, on television, when United won at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, by former England striker Alan Shearer. I’m not sure I accept that, but I don’t see him play every week.
Currently the focus is on Rashford. You’re right about that. But it’s for all the usual reasons associated with being a United player. Nothing more and nothing less. His manner, his demeanor, and his countenance.
Rashford’s situation is not unique to him: all of Manchester United’s best players are under an intense microscope
Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney won 65 medals between them, but that never protected them from scrutiny.
Rashford went and visited Larne FC before going on a 12-hour bender in Belfast in January.
He called in sick to training on Friday, after partying until 3am in Belfast the night before.
There is a question mark over all three at the moment and perhaps that is why many United supporters, rather than the bedroom-lurking fans who would cheer for a mannequin if it were in a red shirt, reacted with such skepticism to his missive at tea time on Thursday. .
Many others have been here before Rashford, of course, and he would do well to know that. Theirs is not an exclusive club. Keane himself, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney. That small group has, at a rough count, around 65 major Manchester United medals between them.
But none of that protected them from criticism, at times, from the Old Trafford ranks, whether it related to contracts, form, behavior or perceived levels of commitment. They have been there too and it hurt me at that moment. Giggs, in particular, was deeply hurt by it. However, everyone managed to move forward.
So none of this is particularly unique to Rashford. It’s what happens when good players start playing poorly for prolonged periods of time.
It’s what happens when they use a day off to go drinking in Belfast, don’t get back on time, and then allow the exact details of what did and didn’t happen to get bogged down in half-truths and confusion. Rashford was fined for that little escapade and there was a reason for it.
About him Players’ tribune On the website yesterday, Rashford spoke in detail and at length about his backstory, his upbringing and his long-standing love and devotion to his only club. All that is a fact. Nobody disputes it.
But to what end have you decided to emphasize all this now? To make what point? That you’ve somehow earned a free pass when things don’t go well? Who has credit in the bank?
Rashford can write as many love letters as he wants, but the next chapter will only be written on the pitch.
With five goals this season, if goals are a striker’s currency, he is currently broke
As for the last point, you actually have some. But this is not the way to spend it. It’s a truth as old as our own game, but the only way back into the hearts and minds of a fan base or even a coach is through solutions found on the grass. That’s where love really is found. That’s where the realities of professional football will surround you until you simply can’t escape them.
Rashford can write as many love letters to Manchester as he wants. But we already know and respect that history. The truth is that we are very fond of him for that.
The next chapter will only really be written on the pitch and, deep in his footballing soul, a bright and intelligent lad from Wythenshawe, South Manchester, will know it better than anyone.