Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick says Marcus Rashford is unhappy with his current form.
The England international missed the start of the season due to a shoulder operation, though since recovering he has failed to have a real impact on the pitch.
Rangnick believes Rashford can still perform to the best of his ability and explained that he has been getting selected due to his performances in training.
Moreover, the manager acknowledged that Rashford’s form this season has been below par, but he completely shut down any suggestions that the 24-year-old is still carrying his early-season injury.
“He is definitely not injured,” Rangnick told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Friday, as per the Manchester Evening News. “He definitely has no issues with his shoulder anymore.
“We have spoken a lot about Marcus a lot in the last couple of weeks and I have personally spoken a lot with him. There is nothing else to add on that. It’s with him like with all the other players, when it counts and they are on the pitch – and he started against Atletico Madrid – they just have to perform.
“I am pretty sure he is not happy with his performance right now but it doesn’t help if we discuss that every week and talk about our thoughts about what it might be.”
Of course, some of this comes with relief because Rashford appears to have fully recovered, so the next step for him is getting back to contributing goals — whether he scores them himself or sets up a team-mate.
Rangnick used Jadon Sancho as an example of a player who has bounced back from poor form this season. He joined from Borussia Dortmund in the summer but took almost half a season to finally hit the ground running, and it could be argued that Sancho has been United’s best player since the turn of the year.
“We had a very similar situation as I can remember with Jadon six or seven weeks ago,” he added. “He is the best example of what can happen.
“Again it’s the player himself who has to perform and get the best out of his own performance and this is the same with Marcus.”
Rashford doesn’t feature in our predicted XI this weekend because Anthony Elanga deserves a start against the Hornets, however, it could be a good chance for the England international to add to his tally for the season by coming off the bench and scoring.
Elanga made sure the away end at the Wanda Metropolitano was bouncing on Wednesday night after his all-important equaliser in the 80th minute.
Can he do the same at Old Trafford against Roy Hodgson’s side?
