- Forward struggling to find form
- Red Devils have continued to spend
- Lack consistency as a collective
WHAT HAPPENED?
The Red Devils continue to invest in fresh faces, but have also found a regular role for home-grown star Rashford. He is into his 10th season as a senior starter at Old Trafford, with 131 goals recorded through 406 appearances.
GOALWHAT BUTT SAID
Only eight of those goals were registered last season – after hitting 30 in 2022-23 – and questions continue to be asked of Rashford’s future. Ex-United star Nicky Butt, who is another product of the club’s famed youth system, has told talkSPORT of what is going wrong for Rashford: “I don’t know and it’s actually sad watching that because I’ve known Marcus since he was probably eight and nine at Man United coming through and he’s always been the one that you hold hope for. I do believe and people will be screaming down the phone now probably but I do believe he’s still got the talent to be one of the best top players in the world. He’s just not clicking for the last few years at Man United, you’re always saying he’s just going to do it, he’s going to do it but it’s looking like maybe it’s time for a change for him.
“No one really knows what his mentality is, but there’s a lot of talent within that man and he’s a top, top footballer. But it’s just not happening for Man United now, people always point to the fact of his body language, he doesn’t care, I can tell you now he does care, he’s a proper lad but he’s just not clicking for him. Maybe it is time to go and find a club where he can get a bit of a deep breath, the eyes aren’t on him all the time. He’s the excuse for all the fans, all the fans look at him and it’s not just him, the whole team, the whole squad needs to up the game.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
United have splashed out another £206 million ($270m) on new additions – bringing in the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte – but Butt has serious questions of the recruitment model in Manchester. He added: “I don’t see a plan in the project, in the signings, I don’t understand what kind of players they’re going for. They’ve got a whole new set up at Man United in the recruitment and how they go and buy players.
“But the players that we’re signing, they’re not superstars of their clubs. They’re just decent players. Man United used to go and sign the best players and now we’re getting players that are maybe not even playing for their respective clubs the season before, we seem to be on the market for buying those players and it’s strange. The signings for me don’t scream out challenging for the Premier League. I think what Man United are trying to do at the minute is build the squad just to get back into Europe.”
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?
United have picked up just three points from as many Premier League games in 2024-25, with a humbling 3-0 defeat to arch-rivals Liverpool suffered last time out, and more pressure is being lumped onto the shoulders of Dutch coach Erik ten Hag as he struggles to bring the best out of an expensively-assembled squad. — Goal
