Sport
Rashford leaving could be the fresh start he and the club need
Manchester United are embarking on yet another era, which means yet another ‘cultural reset’ at Old Trafford. Ruben Amorim is realising the size of the task he has inherited and, despite a smash and grab win in the Manchester Derby at the weekend, there is a long way to go to get them on the path he wants.
News that neither Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford were left out of the squad altogether at the Etihad Stadium certainly reverberated. It is nothing new; no player is ever safe when a new manager arrives at a club, and it would be foolish for them to believe otherwise. In some ways, it was an excellent statement of intent from Amorim, making professional decisions on two of his most highly-rated attacking players. Part of the issue has been the lack of threat to those players in the past; Rashford has been inconsistent for a long time now, and never felt any consequences, while Garnacho will surely learn to apply himself at every opportunity going forward.
Perhaps this is the start of something bigger, though. An audit of the squad when Amorim arrived would have shown neither Garnacho nor Rashford were ideal fits for his approach. The Portuguese coach favours three at the back with two central creative players behind a lone striker. Both players prefer a wide berth but would be severely restricted by playing as a wing back as the new boss prefers. Rashford started up front in Amorim’s first game in charge at Ipswich, scoring inside two minutes, but his career progression suggests that wouldn’t have been a long term solution. Things can change, but it feels like for Rashford in particular, there is a crossroads coming.
Garnacho is still mouldable as a young player and has more value. Rashford, at 27, with consistency issues pre-dating Amorim and an increasingly fraught relationship with the fans, is a different case. His current wage is around £350,000 per-week, and in a world where Sir Jim Ratcliffe is ruthlessly trying to cut costs, that will not be welcome if he’s not performing or at least impressing in training and putting in the hard yards.
Too many players have coasted at Manchester United for a long time; as well as Rashford has done at times, particularly when he emerged as a teenager and then a couple of seasons ago when he hit 29 goals in all competitions, but his exit, which has been mooted this week, may well be the perfect line in the sand for Amorim.
There will be no quick fixes; selling Rashford will not change anything alone. But he is also at an age where he must demand more from himself. Since he debuted in 2016 as a teenager and performed in a way why h suggested he could be a generational marker for the Red Devils and England, he has struggled to match those standards, but he’s not a kid anymore. Once a guarantee for any international squad and likely starter, famously missing a penalty in the Euro 2020 final against Italy at Wembley, he has not even been part of the conversation since being left out of the last tournament altogether. He too needs a fresh start.
There is a drift to Rashford’s career, rather than a decline. He is still capable of special things on a regular basis at the very highest level. Sometimes, a change of scenery is needed, especially when things go stale at the only place you’ve ever known.
If Rashford were to leave and join another elite side, perhaps in a different country, his career could be reinvigorated. For Amorim and Manchester United, it could signify a real, definitive shift in the way the club works moving forward.
