Marcus Rashford admits it is “not nice” to see Manchester City dominating English football.
And the Manchester United striker says their neighbours’ treble-winning feat will give himself and Erik ten Hag’s team an even greater incentive to return to their dominant ways. Rashford was due to welcome City’s England contingent back to St George’s Park on Tuesday night, admitting they deserve the plaudits they have been getting.
He said: “It is not nice but it is football - the best team that is consistently playing the best football is going to win the most trophies. They have managed to win three this year and well done to them and we just move on now. It is up to the rest of us to catch them up.”
Would City’s success give Rashford extra motivation? "Yes, one hundred percent.” And asked what he planned to say to Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden and John Stones when they rocked up to the England camp, Rashford shrugged: “Just congratulations. It is football. It is nothing new. Look at Barcelona years ago, look at Real Madrid - they are the most consistent teams and are going to win trophies.”
And Rashford reckons that at least the experience gained by City’s English players will add another ingredient to Gareth Southgate’s recipe for winning a tournament. Rashford said: “I think it is a massive positive. We have got players that are experienced on massive occasions and it is only going to help us as a nation to hopefully get over the line in a major tournament.”
But one hindrance to that goal could be a footballing calendar that sees the demands on players such as Rashford becoming more extreme.
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He said: “It is mad that, at club level, we are playing against clubs playing one game a week while we are playing three a week from November until we get knocked out of the Europa League. The players are going to push themselves to the absolute limits. It is nothing new, it is not a complaint or a dig, I am just giving my honest opinion.
“I don’t think it is correct. I think we need to be given more time to recover from different games and at different times of the season.”
Rashford is back with England after missing the last two fixtures because of injury. He did, though, take a holiday in New York during that time, drawing criticism from some quarters, especially as he played in United’s next Premier League game.
“I didn’t see it (the criticism), to be honest, until I got home,” he said. “But I needed time to switch off and recover so I took a short trip - four days - and then went back to do rehab and try to get ready as soon as possible. You can’t predict when these injuries are going to happen. I know I am committed 100 percent so people are going to say what they want to say.”
