Marcus Rashford’s “streaky” form is linked to when Man United don’t win – Man United News And Transfer News

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Marcus Rashford’s start to the 2023/24 season has been disappointing.

One goal and two assists in eight games is hardly the start that he, his manager or the fans were expecting, especially after his own prediction that he would exceed last season’s 30-goal haul this time around.

Rashford won the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year Award last season and on the back of that in the summer signed a lucrative new five-year contract worth £300,000 per week. But so far this time around, he has failed to live up to all the hype.

The Athletic’s Mark Critchley offers a positive spin, saying:

“Rashford ended arguably the finest individual season of his career with a non-penalty expected goals (xG) tally of 0.48 per 90 minutes and, despite him suffering an apparently barren spell, his xG in this one stands at 0.42 — a drop-off, but only a slight one, and still enough for him to lead the way among United’s squad.

“A return of one goal from a total of 2.5 xG this season indicates wayward finishing rather than failing to get on the end of chances. Across Rashford’s career, his goal and xG numbers have largely been in line, so it seems likely this underperformance is just a blip.” (figures do not include yesterday’s game).

However, there is a more worrying statistic that could better explain Rashford’s lack of productivity.

Of the 30 goals he scored last season, only one was netted in a game that United didn’t win – against Arsenal at the Emirates.

There was a similar story in 2021/22, when Rashford scored only one goal when United didn’t win, in a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Leicester.

In 2020/21, two of Rashford’s 21 goals came in losses against PSG and Liverpool and one came in a draw against Leicester. The rest were all in victories. In 19/20, Rashford again only scored one when United lost.

All in all, since the start of 2019/20, Rashford has scored just 5 goals in 43 defeats.

What is a “blip” this season is perhaps that the 25 year old’s only goal so far has come in a defeat, again at the hands of Arsenal.

Rashford’s trademark goal celebration is pointing to his head, suggesting that he had learned to make better decisions in front of goal. Yet, as was the case against Crystal Palace yesterday, he is still wont to go route 1 every time, just running at a wall of defenders and hoping to power his way through.

This behaviour seems to be more entrenched when the team is struggling. Rashford, perhaps, loses faith in his teammates, so rather than looking for the pass, he takes it upon himself to do everything.

What this all speaks to is a mentality issue for the England man, where his confidence and head drop too easily when things are going against him.

This can be seen in his body language, which is poor when his side is losing. In 2021/22 it was bordering on shocking and perhaps contributed to interim manager Ralf Rangnick axing him from the side.

Erik ten Hag would do well to get his sport psychologists on the job to try to strengthen Rashford when things are not going well. When a side is struggling, players look to their best teammates to inspire them. The fact that Rashford does the opposite does not put the blame for poor performances on him, but it certainly means he is unlikely to be the solution.

If this is not resolved, Rashford could go down in history as a fair-weather footballer, capable of brilliance, but only when the sun is shining.

There is, of course, the chicken and egg argument that perhaps United only play well when Rashford plays well. But it seems much more likely that it’s the other way around.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Forget “streaky” form or tactics. The figures point to one thing: Marcus Rashford’s head drops far too easily when things aren’t going his way.

United’s top forward needs to toughen up. Critchley says in his article that “Rashford has always been streaky”. But there is a pattern to that streakiness that nobody is talking about and it is that when the chips are down, so, too, is Marcus.