‘Marcus Rashford needs to have a look at himself’ - Man Utd forward slammed for ‘petulance’ after disappointing campaign reaches new lows against Newcastle

The former United defender was unhappy with the striker's attitude on the pitch as he produced another poor performance in a 1-0 loss at Newcastle on Saturday night. The England international was deployed on the right flank by Erik ten Hag, but was subbed off just after the hour mark as he had a night to forget against the Magpies.

Speaking to Stadium Astro, Bruce said: "The body language of some of the players doesn’t look right. We’ve been talking now and the first one you look at is why all of a sudden Marcus Rashford, after how good he was, how good he played for England a few weeks ago, [has gone] to what you see now. Is he not happy playing on the right, what is wrong? We aren’t going to know what has happened behind the scenes if anything has happened.

"When he comes off, he shows that petulance, he is not happy. I think he needs to have a look at himself, to start with. It’s not just him, you look through the nucleus of the side and they have been blown away by Newcastle. That is the worry."

Ten Hag did not publicly criticise Rashford after the game but the Dutch manager said that he would have a chat with him directly in private.

Among a series of criticisms, former Red Devils skipper Harry Maguire came to his colleague's support as he claimed that the 26-year-old is just experiencing a rough patch of form.

The English forward has managed to score just two goals in the 2023-24 campaign to date, in stark contrast to his brilliant run of form last season where he scored 30 goals across all competitions. Rashford is expected to be back in action on Wednesday when United face Chelsea in a crucial Premier League fixture.