Man United’s Rashford faces another crossroads: Can he get back on track?

There's usually a lot for a manager to say at the first press conference of the summer, and when Man United's Erik ten Hag sat in the auditorium of a private school in rural New Jersey in July was no different. But among some tough questions about the club's under-fire owners, the Glazer family, a restrictive transfer budget and Mason Greenwood's uncertain future, there was one that, on the face of it, was relatively straightforward.

It was Marcus Rashford who, after a season in which he scored 30 goals, had just signed a new five-year contract at Manchester United. That was good news, right? Yes, Ten Hag said, but his response also came with a warning that perhaps makes more sense now than then.

Unprompted, the Dutch coach began to explain that Rashford needed to have the “right attitude” to continue producing the type of numbers that distinguish the world's best players from their peers, adding that “players can't match the sensational life and playing at the top”. soccer.”

It's something Ten Hag felt the need to remind Rashford during a meeting at Carrington on Monday as the pair attempted to sort out the mess left by the England striker's trip to a Belfast nightclub last week.

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The basics of the story are simple. Rashford traveled to Belfast on Wednesday ahead of a planned day off on Thursday. He was spotted in the Northern Ireland capital on Thursday evening, before declaring himself too ill to train on Friday ahead of United's FA Cup match against Newport County on Sunday. Rashford also missed training on Saturday but took part in a session at Carrington on Sunday while his team-mates were in South Wales, winning 4-2 to book a place in the fifth round.

“He called in sick,” Ten Hag said after Sunday's victory. “As for the rest, it's an internal matter. I'll take care of it. Like I said, it's an internal matter.”

Monday, following discussions between Ten Hag; Rashford; director of football John Murtough; and Rashford's brother and agent, Dwaine; United released a statement in an attempt to draw a line under the matter. “Marcus has taken responsibility for his actions,” it reads. “This was treated as an internal disciplinary matter, which is now closed.”

Ten Hag was reluctant to speak further on the issue during his weekly press conference on Wednesday, but speaking generally about his team, the message to Rashford was clear. “Players at this level have to manage themselves. That's what you can demand from the player,” he said. “The player must know what is good and what is not.

“When you want to play top-level football, it requires a certain lifestyle. Always.”

The problem is that this is not an isolated incident. In October, Ten Hag described Rashford's decision to attend his own birthday party at a Manchester nightclub hours after a 3–0 home defeat to Manchester City as “unacceptable”. Last season he was sent to the bench for a game against Wolves. punishment for arriving late to a team meeting. He came off the bench in that match to score the only goal in a 1–0 victory, admitting his mistake post-match: “Obviously it's team rules. I made a mistake” , Rashford told BT Sport. “We draw a line and move on. … I overslept, but it can happen.”

Rashford, to his credit, responded to a week of criticism over his trip to Belfast with a goal in Man United's dramatic 4-3 win over Wolves on Thursday.

After each indiscretion, Rashford showed the necessary contrition to get the situations resolved – something Jadon Sancho notably failed to do during his public spat with Ten Hag – and everyone moved on relatively quickly. But the club remains increasingly concerned about Rashford's behavior off the field and his tendency to slip into periods where his concentration is not where it should be.

That hasn't always been the case with Rashford, of course, and he has already shown he is capable of showing the commitment needed at the highest level.

Rashford did not play a completely pain-free match for more than two years before the 2021 European Championships, struggling with minor injuries as England reached the final. Following shoulder surgery after the tournament, he regularly spent 10-hour days at Carrington in a bid to get back into shape as quickly as possible. United's fitness coaches drew up a grueling program involving three gym sessions a day and by the time he was ready to play again – two months after the operation – he had gained 4 kilos (nearly 9 pounds) of muscle.

Rashford has been just as disciplined in the summer of 2022, heading to Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, for an individual training camp. Days often started at 6 a.m. and sessions focused on explosive drills to make him faster, as well as ball work to improve his technical abilities. His reward was his best season since his professional debut as a teenager in 2016, as he scored 30 goals in 56 games.

However, issues have been raised regarding how he spends his time outside of football. His entourage decided to cut back on a growing list of commercial commitments in response to a dip in form which saw him score just two goals in six months between November 2021 and April 2022, while more recently concerns have been raised over some of the company's directors. stay away from Carrington.

Rashford is not a typical confident footballer – although it can sometimes appear that way in the way he acts and plays – in the sense that he is often shy and withdrawn. Professional football can be a solitary activity with a lot of time spent alone at home, and it is notable that a number of his closest footballing friends at United in recent years have since moved clubs, including Paul Pogba (left United in 2022). , Jesse Lingard (left in 2022) and Jadon Sancho (exiled from the team in September before returning to Borussia Dortmund on loan earlier in January). His closest friend in the current squad, Tyrell Malacia, has also spent a lot of time away from Manchester as he recovers from a knee ligament injury suffered last summer.

In fact, Rashford was only in Belfast because he was visiting his close friend and former United teammate Ro-Shaun Williams, who resumed his career at Larne FC after leaving Doncaster last summer.

For friends and acquaintances outside of the football bubble, it can be very difficult to understand and respect the discipline and consistency required to be a top athlete. United sources insist they have put mechanisms in place, both internally and externally, to help all their players in difficulty, but the message from the club is always the same: the key is still that the player must want to engage.

For Rashford, there are echoes of the period following his penalty shootout failure for England in the Euro 2021 final. He faced widespread racial abuse following that defeat , while also dealing with the feeling of having let his country down. According to those around him at the time, some believed he should have accepted more help than he did to get through this period.

Amid real concern about where Rashford might be headed, more than one former United player asked if he could offer any help or advice.

Manchester-born and a United player since the age of 7, Rashford is expected to be at the center of the club's new era under minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, but for the first time, real questions are being asked about to know if it's time for him to leave. Many supporters can't stand what they see as a lack of commitment and, for many, the trip to Belfast is the final straw after some lackluster performances on the pitch, including the defeat 1-0 at Newcastle in December.

Rashford has fans at Paris Saint-Germain, who could lose Kylian Mbappé this summer, while Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola are long-time admirers. However, United's demands, Rashford's long contract and his weekly salary of around £315,000 pose a significant stumbling block for almost every team in the world.

At the very least, Rashford will stay until the end of the season and the staff will hope that the fallout from his ill-timed trip to Northern Ireland will act as a wake-up call that, ultimately, may be a blessing in disguise.

There's a sense that at 26, he's at a crossroads and from there his career could take several different directions. The choice, as always, is Rashford's.