Marcus Rashford's Struggles at Manchester United
Marcus Rashford cut a lonely figure at Craven Cottage. Not just because he limped off with a hip problem, but because, in Michael Owen’s eyes, he looks miles away from the player Manchester United need him to be.
The 1-1 draw with Fulham stretched Rashford’s barren run in the Premier League to over 400 minutes without a goal or an assist. He has started four of United’s five league games since returning from loan spells at Aston Villa and Barcelona. The numbers are stark. The performances, Owen suggests, are even more worrying.
“Glum face” and a growing concern
Speaking on Premier League Productions, Owen didn’t hide his concern. On a day when United’s attack again misfired, his focus locked on Rashford’s demeanour on that left flank.
“On the left, Marcus Rashford has been probably the quietest of those attackers,” Owen said. “He was quiet again today in his body language, just the glum face. He just doesn’t seem to be loving his football which has been a permanent frustration with Marcus.”
This wasn’t a critique of technique or talent. It was about presence. Energy. The spark that once made Rashford the most dangerous outlet in red now seems to flicker only in brief flashes, if at all.
Owen questioned how a player with such obvious gifts can look so burdened.
“It does look like the weight of the world is on his shoulders and you just think how? Why? He’s living everybody’s dream. Surely there’s something behind the scenes that is making him look as if he’s not enjoying his football at the moment,” he added.
Barcelona, missed chances, and a fragile status
Owen also revisited Rashford’s spell in Spain, a move many thought might reset his career.
“Last chance saloon was Barcelona. I couldn’t believe his luck in getting a team like Barcelona,” Owen said. “He does reasonably well out there, but not well enough for them to keep him and then they end up spending fortunes to replace him by buying Anthony Gordon. So, it wasn’t all perfect. It wasn’t all rosy despite any spin that people put on it.”
That line cuts through any romanticised version of his time at Camp Nou. Barcelona rated him enough to use him. Not enough to build around him.
Now back at Old Trafford, the margin for error is shrinking again. Competition is fierce, and Owen believes Rashford’s place in the front three is the one under the brightest spotlight.
“And then he comes back to Manchester United. He’s done okay, but only okay,” Owen said. “And he needs to probably do a little bit better in that front three because his is the position in the attack that would be vulnerable.”
The scenario is clear. There is growing noise for Benjamin Sesko to return to the starting XI, fitness allowing. If that happens, Owen expects a reshuffle that could leave Rashford exposed.
“There’s a bit of a demand for Benjamin Sesko to come back in and start, injury permitting of course. But if that happens, Cunha is going to go on the left and Rashford would be the weak link in that attack as things stand.”
From guaranteed starter to potential weak link. It’s a brutal assessment, but it reflects the current mood around his form.
Injury setback and a race to rediscover himself
The immediate concern is physical. Rashford’s hip issue forced him off in the second half at Craven Cottage and has ruled him out of England’s upcoming Nations League fixtures against Spain, Czechia, and Croatia over the next three weeks.
For club and country, the timing is awkward. For Rashford, it might be an enforced pause he can use.
United now face a challenge that goes beyond tactics or team selection. They have to find a way to reignite a player who once carried their attack, a forward Owen insists still has “incredible attributes” but nowhere near the consistency to match.
When he finally returns to full fitness, the question will be blunt: does Marcus Rashford still command a place on merit, or does he have to fight his way back into a frontline that may already be moving on without him?
