London, March 14 (BUS): It wasn’t long ago that Marcus Rashford was widely regarded with fondness as a national treasure for English football. This week, however, he is set to underline his deteriorating situation for both the club and country, according to the Associated Press.
For Manchester United, this is the team’s biggest game of the season so far – the knockout game against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday.
Two days later, England set their team for friendlies against Ivory Coast and Switzerland, a third-to-last selection by coach Gareth Southgate before he chooses the players he wants to represent the country in the Qatar World Cup. There is a chance that Rashford is not involved with either.
The 24-year-old striker has not played a minute for his country since he missed a penalty in a penalty shootout loss to Italy in the European Championship final in July.
And in the eight months that followed, Rashford gradually fell off the United strikers’ standings.
To the extent that, a week ago, he was unable to make the starting lineup for the derby against Manchester City even though the club has four strikers – Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial – unavailable for various reasons.
It even got to the point where Rashford, a local boy from Manchester, could leave his childhood team. That possibility was raised by United manager Rangnick last week.
Such a scenario seemed out of the question last season. One of the regulars on United’s squad under then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was also Britain’s talk off the field, after twice forcing the government to make shifts to its social policy during the pandemic over his campaign on behalf of vulnerable children.
Only in November was he awarded an MBE, or Member of the Order of the British Empire, for his activism.
“He’s not only a great footballer but a wonderful human being,” Solskjaer said of Rashford. “The future captain, maybe England and Manchester United.”
So, the slide in his career was stark.
For the time being at least, the spark came from a player who, in October, urged Solskjaer to “prioritize football” to meet the challenges of playing for United and England, following all the great things he has. Completed off the field.
Time will tell if this is just a minor moment in a career that promised so much. Either way, this week could be sober for Rashford.
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