Rio Ferdinand blasted Ralf Rangnick’s decision not to start Marcus Rashford against Leicester, and feels the Manchester United forward will be seriously questioning his future at the club.
Despite both Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani being out injured, Rangnick elected to name Rashford on the bench rather than hand him a start up front. Instead, the interim manager went with a similar system to the one he deployed against Manchester City, with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba playing as his front two.
The ploy failed to bring about any results though as the Reds produced a dismal first-half performance, with Rashford eventually making his way from the bench 10 minutes into the second half. The England international though failed to make a meaningful impact as United drew 1-1 with the Foxes.
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Rashford’s latest snub comes amid doubts over the 24-year-old’s future at Old Trafford. The forward is considering his options after being deprived of opportunities in recent months, having struggled for form this season.
Former United defender Ferdinand had a great deal of sympathy for Rashford as he slammed Rangnick’s decision to leave him out of the side. The decision no doubt leaves more questions over his future at the club.
“What must Rashford be thinking now?” Ferdinand told his FIVE YouTube channel. “Maybe there’s new contract negotiations behind the scenes, but if you’re him, you’re sitting there thinking ‘wow, this gaffer doesn’t fancy me. How can I stay here and sign this contract given the team would rather play without a striker than play with me?’
“All the signs are so wrong. I’m not saying he’s perfect or played particularly well the last few weeks, but at the same time it’s the wrong signal.
“Forget everything else, if I’m Rashford, I’m looking and thinking ‘this guy does not rate me’. He doesn’t see me as anything if he’s going to play two midfielders up front instead of me.
“How bad must he be in training then, or how badly must he (Rangnick) rate him, to go into games like that? I just think it’s a hard one to take for any player. You can say ‘I’m going to really work my socks off and prove to this manager I should be in this team’, but at the same time it’s a low place to come from when you’re sitting there and thinking our two main strikers are out, and he’s playing two midfielders in number nine positions over me.”
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