Marcus Rashford told getting 'grief' from fans isn't unusual for 'top Man Utd players' as former Red Devils defender urges striker to 'show resilience and bounce back' under Ruben Amorim

Rashford, who has spent his entire career with United, was a fan favourite at Old Trafford but has received increasing criticism from supporters due to an alarming decline in performance ever since he signed a new contract with the club in the summer of 2023. But former Red Devils defender John O'Shea has pointed out that homegrown stars have never been immune from criticism and urged Rashford to bounce back to his form of the 2022-23 campaign, when he scored 30 goals in all competitions.

O'Shea told GOAL: "That’s the standards you set, I remember playing in the team and Ryan Giggs, one of the most decorated players, was getting lots of grief. Top Manchester United players have got grief. They'll have spells in their careers and they'll have to show that resilience to bounce back and reach the levels they got to. Marcus will be similar in that because he’s a goalscorer, he creates and he assists, so if he’s not doing that there’s going to be more scrutiny."

Rashford had a miserable last campaign, scoring just eight goals in all competitions and angering fans for his off-pitch behaviour, which included going to a nightclub in Belfast and missing training the next day. He made a flying start to the Ruben Amorim era, scoring the opening goal in the coach's dugout debut at Ipswich and also netting twice against Everton. However, he was left out of the starting line-up for the last two games against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.

O'Shea was speaking to GOAL on behalf of the United We Play programme, a grassroots football initiative from Apollo Tyres in partnership with Manchester United, which encourages young football talent from countries underrepresented in football’s top leagues. The programme empowers young footballers from untapped communities to showcase their performance at the highest level and recently brought five young players from India, Nepal and Thailand - selected from a pool of 15,000 hopefuls - to visit United's Carrington training ground and Old Trafford, honing their talent with club coaches.

The forward will be hoping to return to the line-up for United's Europa League clash at Viktoria Plzen, while on Sunday his side make the short trip across town to face local rivals Manchester City in a huge Premier League derby clash.