Thierry Henry has pointed towards Marcus Rashford’s poor form as a sign that Manchester United are lacking the desire they used to possess.
United end 2021 at Old Trafford this evening as they take on Burnley, looking for an improvement after their lacklustre showing at Newcastle on Monday.
A number of players came in for criticism after that showing at St James’ Park, in particular Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes after they failed to acknowledge the travelling supporters at the end of the game.
Henry though defended the Portuguese pair, and pointed towards Rashford – who has struggled for form this season after returning from shoulder surgery – as well as Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial as signs why the campaign hasn’t gone to plan so far.
“As always, it should be the team,” Henry told Amazon Prime Video. “I don’t think it’s right when a player at the end is singled out because he makes the team win the game.
“I think it has to be a team effort and a lot of people, for me, are getting away with you know what and I won’t say because some might take it the wrong way but it’s a bit too much at times.
“It’s too easy to attack Ronaldo, it’s too easy to attack Bruno Fernandes - the guys that are delivering. When you see the numbers, Sancho, Martial and Rashford have less goals than Cornet for Burnley, a team that is not often on the ball. A team not really dominating games.
“I remember Marcus Rashford starting and he killed Arsenal on the day, if you remember well in the Europa League. The desire that he had, the commitment that he had, the will to go and score and hurt people. I think they need to go back to that desire.
“When I used to come here [Old Trafford] you could feel that they knew who they were and that what they wanted to achieve and they wanted to win, nothing else.”
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