Man United Told To Act To Avoid Repeat Rashford Behaviour 

Dimitar Berbatov, a former striker for Manchester United, has demanded that the team act in response to Marcus Rashford ‘s most recent infraction.

The England international missed training and his team’s FA Cup match at Newport after being seen partying till the wee hours of Wednesday morning in a Belfast bar. Although Rashford’s teammates are reportedly “angry” with the 26-year-old, United coped just well without him. That opinion has been expressed by former Red Devil Berbatov, who claims that there is “no excuse” for such poor behaviour.

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The former Premier League striker told Betfair: “There is no excuse for Marcus Rashford’s indiscipline. I’d like to find an excuse because I’ll always try to defend the players because I’ve been there. I know how it is, what it sometimes takes from you being a professional under pressure. You want to relax – and you can do it – but only if you don’t skip training the next day. From what I understand, he was not sick. It sounds like he didn’t feel confident and fit enough to go to training, which doesn’t look good for him in a professional way.

“First and foremost, as a professional and a United player, you’re a footballer and the team is your number one priority. If you’re fit and don’t have family problems, you need to be at training. If a player goes partying and doesn’t go to training the next day, then I can’t defend his behaviour. From what I saw from [Erik] Ten Hag, you could see on his face that he was angry about the whole situation.”

Rashford has already received disciplinary action once before. In late 2022, the England striker was fined for being late for a squad meeting prior to a match against Wolves. Though Berbatov added, “I’ll never stop saying Rashford is a big talent, but if he doesn’t correct his behaviour then he won’t fulfil his potential, the club needs to do more before Rashford causes long-term damage to his career.” It always surprises me when someone who isn’t well-known for misbehaviour on the field of play or other extracurricular activities begins acting in an unprofessional manner.

“There must be a reason for the change in Rashford’s behaviour. If United don’t tackle the root cause then this behaviour will continue. If United find the answer to why he’s behaving like this and help him, then hopefully he’ll continue to play and be more focused and concentrated. His form on the pitch has been up and down and, as mentioned, he’s been late to the team meeting before. So something is not right and until United fix it, I think his behaviour will continue like this.”

Even with all of the controversy surrounding his off-field disciplinary concerns, Rashford is still thought to be one of Europe’s top prospects. Paris Saint-Germain, the dominant team in Ligue 1, has rekindled their interest in the attacker and may make a bid if Kylian Mbappe departs in the summer.

However, for the time being, concerns will centre around issues on the pitch. Rashford may be chosen by Erik ten Hag for United’s match against Wolves on Thursday since the team regards the situation as “closed”.