Man Utd: Rashford told to become ‘aware’ of consequences as he wastes his ‘potential’

Marcus Rashford is currently wasting his potential at Manchester United, according to former Premier League striker Louis Saha.

The England forward has been in the headlines over the last few days after attending a Belfast nightclub hours before reporting himself too ill to train last Friday.

He was not included in Sunday’s FA Cup win at Newport County and it is unclear if he will be back in the squad to face Wolves on Thursday evening.

Erik ten Hag insists the case is closed, but former Red Devils striker Saha says he feels sorry for the Dutch manager.

“Yes I do (feel sorry for Ten Hag) because these stories are not helpful for a club that is trying to get back to its best,” Saha told Betfred.

“Marcus is a player that has huge expectations on him and he’s putting the club and Erik ten Hag in a position that they don’t want to be in.

“I don’t want to comment on the situation too much because I’m unaware of all the elements, but we’ve seen many cases of Manchester United players saying they’re ill or sick. It doesn’t seem right.”

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Asked if new owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and incoming chief executive Omar Berrado will stamp down on misdemeanors, Saha said: “When you have a new hierarchy at a club, they’re going to have different ways of acting in a situation like this.

“They’ll want to prove a point and any player associated with the club will have to be at their best, regardless of whether they’re a big player or not.

“We all know that the structure at Manchester United hasn’t been right over the past decade and any deals or agreements people had before can be challenged now. To see the club get back to its best, people have to understand these things, whether they like it or not.

“Marcus Rashford is a big, big ambassador for the club and he’s an example for the other players, especially those in the academy. All the players need to be on their toes and they need to be better. We all expected him to score at least 15 goals this season but that hasn’t been the case, so he needs to do better.

“We saw the situation regarding him going out for his birthday immediately after Manchester United were beaten 3-0 at home by Manchester City and he has to understand that regardless of what other people are doing, it doesn’t mean that he has to be doing the same as them.

“He needs to be aware that people are waiting for any opportunity to put his name in the newspapers, so he needs to avoid doing these things.

“I recently read an interview with Thierry Henry and he said that after Arsenal won the Premier League title in their ‘invincible’ season, he didn’t go to the party afterwards because he was already focusing on the European Championships with France.

“These are the types of things that you want to hear from such a great player with so much talent because that symbolised who he was. Marcus needs to follow this example because he’s such a big name and he symbolises the club.”

When asked if Rashford is wasting his potential at Old Trafford, Saha replied: “Yes we could be because when you have a few years when you’re brilliant one season and not so good the next, then that’s not ideal.

“With Marcus, we should be discussing him competing for the Ballon d’Or but we’re not. Instead we’re talking about what he should be doing and what he should be doing more.

“I believe Marcus will be as frustrated as everybody else because he’s aware of the talent he has. He should be in the debate for the best player this season, but that’s not the case at the moment due to how he’s underperformed. The great players we all remember all had consistency and Marcus doesn’t have that currently.

“When I was a player, I had potential but I had nowhere near the amount of potential that Marcus had and I feel like that’s why I’m so hard on Marcus when I discuss him because he should be achieving a lot more. It’s really difficult to see what’s happening with him at the moment.”

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