Manchester United’s exiled forward Marcus Rashford has delivered a scathing assessment of the Premier League side’s struggles, saying the club remains stuck in “no man’s land” due to constantly changing coaches with different philosophies.
Rashford has not played for United since December after a fallout with coach Ruben Amorim, with the England international spending the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa before joining Barcelona on another loan deal last month.
The 27-year-old, once the lynchpin of United’s attack, said the last few months away from the Old Trafford side have allowed him to “take a step back” and analyse why the club which finished a lowly 15th last season has been floundering.
“People say that we’ve been in a transition for years but to be in a transition you have to start the transition. The actual transition hasn’t started yet,” Rashford said on ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast.
“When Liverpool went through this, they got (Juergen) Klopp and they stuck with him. They didn’t win in the beginning, people only remember his final few years when he was competing with (Manchester) City and winning the biggest trophies.
“To start a transition, you have to make a plan and stick to it. This is where I speak about being realistic about what your situation is. We’ve had that many different managers, ideas and strategies in order to win that you end up in no man’s land.”
United have not won the Premier League title since 2012-13, the last season of manager Alex Ferguson’s career before he retired, while Liverpool have now equalled their tally of 20 league titles.
United’s managerial carousel since Ferguson’s exit has included David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag, with each bringing vastly different playing styles.
“When Ferguson was in charge, not only were there principles for the first team but they were for the whole academy,” Rashford said.
“They’d all understand the principles of playing the Man United way. Any team that’s been successful over a period of time, they have principles that mean that any coach or player that comes in has to align to or add to the principles.”
United have won several cups since their last league title, but Rashford attributed them to squad quality rather than systematic success.
“At times, I feel like United were hungry to win so we’ll always try to adapt and sign players that fit the system. But that was reactionary,” Rashford added.
“If your direction is always changing you can’t expect to win the league. You might win some cup tournaments, but it’s because you have a good coach, good players and match winners in your team.”
