It’s probably fair to say everyone involved with Manchester United want this season to be over. Not only the fans, but the players too would happily see the back of this dreadful campaign.
After being so full of hope and expectation last summer, the past nine months have set everyone back to their lowest ebb. Very few players will emerge out of this season with their reputations enhanced, and many will head into a new era with serious doubts hanging over them.
Few players sum up that perilous position better than Marcus Rashford. The 24-year-old could do no wrong this time last year – he was a symbol of a brighter future for the club after a difficult few years following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, he was set to be one of England’s stars at another major tournament, and his off-field work saw him held in the highest regard, even by some of United’s biggest rivals.
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Now though, the academy graduate faces a crucial summer, with his Old Trafford future potentially at stake. Having endured by far the toughest season of his career so far, there are serious questions over his position, with the player himself even considering his next steps.
Jadon Sancho’s arrival has seen him drop down the pecking order, although there was always still a place for him in the side, even if it was in a less-favoured position. More alarmingly for Rashford, he now looks to have been overtaken by Anthony Elanga.
While hopes were high for the young Swede, few could have expected him to nail down a regular spot in United’s side this season. But with the 20-year-old outperforming Rashford, he’s gained the trust of Ralf Rangnick since the German arrived.
“Well, since he is a clear head, since he is a top mentality player," Rangnick said in an interview with the club. "I'm sure he can take and make the next steps, which are also important for him to take.
“It’s not for him an issue of character or mentality. I’m pretty sure, whenever I saw him train or play, even in the first training session the night before the Crystal Palace game, I knew his name but had never seen him play before. So I asked my coaching staff at the time, Kieran [McKenna] and Darren Fletcher: ‘Who is he? I haven’t seen him play before’.
“Since then, he has always been a player who gave his very best, where I could always be assured what kind of level, physical level and mentality level, he will invest.”
Rashford will have the chance to make a fresh start under Erik ten Hag during the summer, but he faces an uphill battle to work his way back into the reckoning. If it wasn’t clear from his snubs in games against Manchester City and Leicester, Rangnick’s comments demonstrate how he now feels he’s able to trust Elanga in his side more.
That won’t go unnoticed by Ten Hag, especially with Rangnick moving into a consultancy role, and no doubt ready to fill the new manager in on the mountain of work he needs to scale. In less than a year, Rashford has gone from being one of United’s leading lights to fighting for his place in the side.
Fans have been left questioning his approach to games in recent weeks, with his performance at Liverpool especially giving off the air of a player desperate to get to the end of the campaign. Once all is done and dusted this season though, he faces a huge task in convincing his new manager he deserves his trust.
With Sancho out against Chelsea, Rashford is likely to get more opportunities before the end of the current season. While United might well be meandering to a conclusion, it could well be the head-start he needs ahead of the most important summer of his career so far.
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