Former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has named four Manchester United players who need to shoulder the goals responsibility with top scorer Marcus Rashford out injured.
The attacker is sidelined for the next few games and missed Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Sevilla after pulling up with a muscle problem in Saturday's 2-0 win over Everton.
Rashford has 28 goals this season, his most prolific season ever. United have been heavily reliant on his goals and Hargreaves shared his concern about the lack of scoring threat from others.
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Speaking on BT Sport, he said: “The biggest problem is goalscoring, and if you lose Marcus Rashford for a week or two or three that puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the players, because Marcus has been the guy that’s carried the team.
“But, somebody needs to stop up - [Anthony] Martial, he’s back fit, he looks like he could be the guy. Whether it’s Antony, [Jadon] Sancho, Bruno Fernandes, or [Christian] Eriksen to come back in, but they need somebody to step up.
“I just feel like when Marcus isn’t there, Varane or Lisandro Martinez, or Casemiro, replacements aren’t as strong as those options so it’s a huge month with all the fixtures. But somebody is going to have to step up because if Marcus is going to be missing for a time I think we need another goalscorer.”
Former United teammate Paul Scholes says the lack of goal support from other players has prevented the Reds from mounting a title charge this season. He pinpointed several areas of disappointment in relation to scoring this season.
Scholes said: “I think where Manchester United are missing out on for going for a league title is goals. So Marcus has stepped up to the plate this year, but I don’t think the players around him have contributed enough to scoring goals.
“Antony, I know he’s scored [seven] goals in the season in all competitions, but it’s only three league goals. Sancho might be only three or four league goals, Martial being out has been a big miss and also Bruno hasn’t scored as many as you would have liked, though Casemiro has chipped in.
“Now I think it’s a great opportunity for somebody to come in, somebody like Anthony Martial, to come in and say ‘look, Marcus has been fantastic, but now it’s my turn. I can score goals.’ The biggest problem with Anthony Martial is that he’s fragile, if they keep him fit they have got a proper centre forward.”
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