Marcus Rashford warned ‘freaks’ Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo ‘never took a season off’ as one-goal Man Utd forward gets stuck in another rut

The England international forward posted a personal best goal return of 30 efforts across all competitions last season, but has found the target just once through 16 appearances in the current campaign. Rashford did sign a new contract at Old Trafford over the summer, but he is doing little to justify those lucrative terms.

The 26-year-old appears to have slipped back into the rut that saw him register just five efforts in the 2021-22 campaign, with a spark that had been rekindled beginning to fizzle out once more. Such inconsistency cannot be accepted when it comes to supposed world-class talent, with Rashford having it pointed out to him that the very best in the business do not experience such dips.

Former United striker Andy Cole, who formed part of the club’s Treble triumph in 1999, has told Betfred of where things are going wrong for an attacking star in the present: “I don’t know. I really, really don’t know. His form was phenomenal last season, but if you look at his form from two years before that, it was similar to what it’s like now. The freaks such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo never took a season off. Around 20 years at the highest level and they never took a season off. That’s what you’ve got to be like to play at that elite level. Only Marcus knows what’s going on in his head at the moment. His form over the last four or five years has been inconsistent and I don’t know what he can or can’t do to get himself back on track. He starts week in, week out and that’s something that every player wants. If I had one goal to my name in 16 appearances, then I’d go right back to basics on how I train, how I finish or whatever it may be. I’d do whatever it took to get me back into form.”

Rashford looked a shadow of his former self when turning out for England during the November international break and will be hoping to rediscover some kind of form when United return to Premier League action on Sunday in a trip to Everton.