Marcus Rashford's Struggles: From Talisman to Weak Link

Marcus Rashford cut a lonely figure at Craven Cottage. Not just because he walked off injured, but because, in Michael Owen’s eyes, he looks miles away from the player he should be.

The 1-1 draw with Fulham stretched Rashford’s barren run in the Premier League this season: four starts, over 400 minutes, no goals, no assists. For a forward of his profile, that is a glaring return. For Owen, speaking on Premier League Productions, the numbers only tell part of the story. The bigger concern is what Rashford looks like while he’s producing so little.

“On the left, Marcus Rashford has been probably the quietest of those attackers,” Owen said. “He was quiet again today in his body language, just the glum face. He just doesn’t seem to be loving his football which has been a permanent frustration with Marcus.”

This is not a casual observation from a pundit filling airtime. Owen has circled Rashford’s demeanour before, and he went back to it again. The talent is there. The attributes are obvious. The mood, he believes, is not.

“It does look like the weight of the world is on his shoulders and you just think how? Why? He’s living everybody’s dream,” Owen added. “Surely there’s something behind the scenes that is making him look as if he’s not enjoying his football at the moment.”

Rashford’s recent journey only sharpens the scrutiny. Sent out to Aston Villa and then Barcelona, he was handed what Owen called a “last chance saloon” at the Camp Nou. A heavyweight club, a fresh start, a stage to reset his career.

“I couldn’t believe his luck in getting a team like Barcelona,” Owen said. “He does reasonably well out there, but not well enough for them to keep him and then they end up spending fortunes to replace him by buying Anthony Gordon. So, it wasn’t all perfect. It wasn’t all rosy despite any spin that people put on it.”

Barcelona moved on. Manchester United brought him back. This was supposed to be the revival, the homecoming with a point to prove. Instead, Owen sees a player stuck in neutral.

“And then he comes back to Manchester United. He’s done okay, but only okay,” Owen said. “And he needs to probably do a little bit better in that front three because his is the position in the attack that would be vulnerable.”

The competition around him is not easing up. If anything, it’s tightening the noose. Owen pointed to the growing clamour for Benjamin Sesko to return to the starting XI once fit. That change, he argued, would have a clear knock-on effect.

“There’s a bit of a demand for Benjamin Sesko to come back in and start, injury permitting of course. But if that happens, Cunha is going to go on the left and Rashford would be the weak link in that attack as things stand.”

That phrase will sting: the weak link. Rashford, once the face of United’s attack, now talked about as the most expendable piece.

To make matters worse, his night at Fulham ended with a fresh problem. A hip issue forced him off in the second half, cutting short another subdued display and now ruling him out of England duty. He will miss the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Spain, Czechia, and Croatia over the next three weeks.

The break gives him time to heal. It also gives Manchester United time to think. They must find a way to spark something in a player who has drifted from talisman to question mark. When Rashford finally returns to full fitness, the real test begins: does he fight his way back into the heart of this attack, or does the “weak link” tag start to stick?