Former Manchester United star Paul Parker has taken a bizarre swipe at Marcus Rashford despite the attacker’s stunning goal against Arsenal.
Rashford has been key for United in their resurgence under new boss Erik ten Hag, scoring 17 goals in all competitions. He has been on the scoresheet in five of his last six games, with the Red Devils having threatened to launch a surprise Premier League title bid.
Those hopes took a serious blow on Sunday, when they were defeated by Arsenal to fall 11 points behind the league-leaders. Despite the defeat, Rashford impressed, firing in a fine goal to open the scoring for the visitors at Emirates Stadium.
He picked up the ball from Bruno Fernandes before cutting past Thomas Partey and blasting the ball beyond Aaron Ramsdale from outside the box. But Parker has admitted he has been less than impressed with Rashford’s overall performances this season.
“You have to respect that Marcus Rashford scores goals. But he also has to contribute with other things and he never does,” Parker, who won two Premier League titles during five years with United, told Wettbasis.
“He tries to dribble past three defenders with his eyes closed and fingers crossed. I don’t like what I see from him in general, but it’s also very difficult to put him on the bench because the other attacking players are even worse than him.”
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Though Parker insisted that Rashford has fallen short in his contribution to United this season, the attacker has notched six assists alongside his impressive scoring return. That includes setting up two goals in United’s win over Everton in the FA Cup.
Following that game, United boss Ten Hag made it clear he has been delighted with Rashford’s performances this campaign. The Dutchman hailed the attacker for his work on the training ground to improve his all-round game.
“Again, great performance in the game, but he was from the first minute in the game. Marcus was the one who goes in front and showed the conviction, showed the belief, good movement, good runs behind, taking players on,” Ten Hag said.
“For 90 minutes, he was a threat for the Everton defenders. As a striker, you measure goals and assists. Definitely today, he had two assists and one goal, so it’s great and he has fantastic skills.
“When he has that mental stability, he keeps going, but that demands a lot from him and also us as a team, the organisation, make sure we have the right environment and the right culture. When he keeps focus like this, I’m sure he keeps this process going.
“Marcus is doing really well but also is the team to get the right shape so he can bring his strengths in and then he’s unstoppable with his speed, with his dribbles, with his directness. There is a lot of work in it, but the most important is Marcus himself.”
