Rashford makes withering Man United assessment, says club paying for lack of clear direction and are in ‘no man’s land’.
Marcus Rashford claims Manchester United are stuck in ‘no man’s land’.
Marcus Rashford has provided a scathing analysis of Manchester United’s situation, claiming that the team is in “no man’s land” due to a lack of consistent playing principles since Sir Alex Ferguson resigned.
The attacker, who is now on loan from United to Barcelona for the season, feels that despite constant talk of change, nothing has changed and that the team cannot win the Premier League or have sustained success until they create a strategy and follow it.
Ruben Amorim, the sixth permanent United manager since Ferguson left 12 years ago, benched Rashford. Under Ferguson’s leadership, the England international progressed through the academy.
“Show me a successful team that just adapts,” Rashford told the Rest is Football podcast. “When Fergie was in charge, not only the principles for the first team, the whole academy set-up so you could pick players from 15 years and over – that’s a full generation. And they’d all understand the principles of playing the Man United way, right?
“You see it with any team that’s been successful over a period of time: they have principles that any coach that comes in, any player that comes in, has to align to these principles or be able to add to these principles. Whereas at times I feel like United have just been … we’re hungry to win, so we’ll always try to adapt and to sign players that fit this system. But it’s reactionary.
“If your direction’s always changing, you can’t expect to be able to win the league. Yeah, you might win some cup tournaments, but it’s because you do have a good coach and you do have good players and you have match winners in your team – you’re not there by accident.
“This is what some people forget. So yeah, we’ve been way below where we deem United to be. But then if you take a step back, which I’ve been able to do, especially over the last six months – what do you expect? People say we’ve been in a transition for years. To be in a transition, you have to start the transition. So it’s like the actual transition’s not started yet.”