What's up with Marcus Rashford?! Man Utd's highest-paid player has gone from superstar to super flop - but dropping him is not the answer

Rashford had some excuse for his slow start to the season as he began the campaign playing as a centre-forward due to the injuries to both Martial and new signing Hojlund. The striker has been open about the fact he feels most comfortable on the left wing as he can feel isolated up front on his own, even comparing the role to playing as a goalkeeper.

"Left is easier to stay in the game, and from when I was young I've always wanted to be involved in the game," he told Gary Neville on The Overlap. "That's why I struggle playing centre-forward sometimes because of my patience. You might not touch the ball for 20 minutes, and then your first touch might be an opportunity to score. You have to be mentally switched on."

He was ineffective against Wolves and Tottenham while playing up front on his own, with United's only goal across those two games coming via a cross from Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Raphael Varane.

Rashford returned to his favoured role in the third game of the season against Nottingham Forest and has kept playing off the left since. And at first he looked like the brilliant player he was last season again.

He had a strong display against Forest, being involved in all three of United's goals. He set up Christian Eriksen's strike, played a sumptuous pass in the build-up to Casemiro's equaliser and then earned the penalty from which Bruno Fernandes scored to complete the 3-2 comeback win.

Rashford also did well in his next outing at Arsenal, scoring the opening goal in the 3-1 defeat by cutting in from the left wing and smashing the ball in off the far post. He even performed well in the 3-1 defeat to Brighton, but just lacked a bit of luck. He smashed a shot against the crossbar and looked to have set up an equaliser for Hojlund, only for VAR to rule that he had taken the ball out of play.

But it has been all downhill since then, particularly on an individual level.

Rashford had a good start against Bayern Munich and had the run of makeshift right-back Konrad Laimer early in the game, but once the Bavarians went ahead thanks to Andre Onana's clanger, his influence soon faded.

He was almost anonymous against Burnley three days later, when United rode their luck and needed a shared moment of inspiration from Jonny Evans and Fernandes to snatch a 1-0 win. Rashford failed to put Burnley's defence under any sort of pressure and looked unenthusiastic when he pressed, especially when compared with Hojlund and Hannibal Mejbri.

The limp defeat to Palace, when United failed to create many clear chances, was the nadir of an already bad season for Rashford. When he got down the left wing early in the match he kept on getting crowded out by Palace's defenders or making the wrong decision. At one stage he beat his man by the byline and attempted to cross into the box, hooking the ball aimlessly into the sky and outside of the area. It ended up hitting Scott McTominay and leading to Casemiro fizzing a shot just wide, but it did not look like a very logical route to goal.

When he switched to the right of the attack after Garnacho was brought on, he was even less effective and barely saw any of the ball while the Argentine looked like United's best chance of finding an equaliser.

But while Rashford's struggles came in for heavy focus after the defeat by Palace, it is clear that he is a symptom of United's overall problems rather than the cause. Quite simply, Ten Hag's side are not creating enough clear chances.

United currently sit 10th in the Premier League on nine points from seven matches, their worst start to a season in 34 years. They are ranked 12th on goals scored, with seven in seven games. When it comes to expected goals, they are 11th, below Chelsea and relegation-fighting Everton.

When it comes to shots on goal, Ten Hag's side fare better, ranking sixth in the league with 15 per match. Against Palace, for example, they had 19. But they are back down to the middle of the table when it comes to shots on target, sitting in 12th with four per match (Tottenham are top of both shot metrics, followed by Manchester City and Brighton).

There is a clear downturn this season compared to last, when United ranked third on shots on goal per match and second in shots on target per match. However, it should not be forgotten that even when United finished third last season, they only scored 58 goals, making them joint-seventh in the metric along with Brentford and lower than every other team to finish in the top six. They ranked sixth on expected goals.

Considering how few goals United scored last season and their low expected goals total, it is tempting to conclude that Rashford was the main reason why the Red Devils finished third and not sixth like the previous campaign.

He was responsible for 29 percent of United's league goals last season, with 17. That's nine more than closest challenger Fernandes and 11 more than Martial and Jadon Sancho, who scored six apiece.

Contrast United's reliance on Rashford last season with the other teams to finish in the top four. Four Arsenal players scored 11 goals or more (Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli got 15 each while Martin Odegaard got 14) while three Newcastle players struck 10 or more. City were heavily reliant on Erling Haaland's record-breaking 36 goals, but five of their players scored seven or more goals.

Given Rashford was the reason why United finished so strongly last campaign, it would make little sense to take him out of the team so soon after a drop in form. And it seems unfair to blame just him for the team's drop in quality.

Ten Hag made this clear ahead of Tuesday's Champions League fixture with Galatasaray. "The facts are he's not scoring at this moment, but he's had opportunities, like against Brighton, where he had five or six occasions in a very good spot," the manager said.

"If he works hard and invests every day with the right focus, and if the team around him supplies, helps, and supports him with movement, then it will come, and Marcus Rashford is a player who's capable of scoring a goal in every game. When he's coming in the right spots, he will score."

Another reason to keep the faith in Rashford is a lack of alternatives. Despite spending close to £200 million ($242m) over the summer, United did not sign any wide forwards and they have even fewer options in his position due to Sancho's ongoing dispute with Ten Hag.

The only suitable alternative now is to play Garnacho, and his case for a starting berth is strengthened after his positive display from the bench on Saturday. However, the forward still does not have the discipline to start games against top opposition regularly.

His best display came against Palace in the Carabao Cup, but that was against a severely weakened team and he struggled when starting against Wolves and Tottenham, offering little support defensively which left his side of the pitch exposed.

While he needs to improve his shooting accuracy and his decision-making, Rashford is still making the right runs (in most games) and still showing glimpses of danger. It is only a matter of time before he starts putting the ball in the net and starts clicking with Hojlund.

And the only way for him to do that is by getting more chances to rediscover his old self. Dropping him could severely affect his confidence and his mindset, and the last thing United need is another off-the-pitch problem.

Rashford might not be at his best right now but he is still United's best player on his day, and after the club made him the highest-paid member of the squad, Ten Hag has little choice but to stick with Rashford and find ways to lift his performance levels.