Ferdinand calls out Rashford as Man Utd forward told his 'body language is an issue'

Marcus Rashford has been warned that his “body language is an issue” after failing to make the desired impact for Manchester United in their 1-0 defeat to Wolves, with Rio Ferdinand questioning the collective attitude of those at Ralf Rangnick’s disposal.

The Red Devils stumbled out of the blocks in 2022 when going down to a late Joao Moutinho goal at Old Trafford, with the club’s interim manager suffering a first defeat in his tenure.

England international Rashford was among those introduced off the bench as second-half inspiration was sought, but he suffered similar passing struggles to many of his team-mates and offered little to suggest that he should be handed a starting berth in United’s next outing.

What has been said?

Former Red Devils defender Ferdinand was among the spectators to be left unimpressed by United’s efforts against Wolves and has told Vibe With Five: “Body language is an issue.

“Marcus Rashford comes off the bench and you are expecting him to go out there and really fly and give it some. And sometimes you see him losing the ball and the reaction to losing the ball isn’t what you want to see.

“That could be down to him not being happy not playing etc. But you’ve got to put that to one side.

“When you’re out of the team it’s about coming in and proving to the manager what you’re about and who you are. Maybe he feels he is not getting the opportunities he deserves. I don’t know.

“It’s hard to pinpoint one player – you can’t, all the players have to take responsibility from Cristiano [Ronaldo] at the top all the way down to all the other players.”

Any other issues?

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Rashford was not the first player to be introduced by Rangnick against Wolves, with Bruno Fernandes sent on in place of Mason Greenwood on the hour mark.

That change did not go down well with a disgruntled home support, as boos rang out when No.11 flashed up on the fourth official’s board, but United’s German coach has sought to defend his decision.

Rangnick said of taking Greenwood off when the 20-year-old had been one of the Red Devils’ brighter sparks: “The question was shall I take off Mason or shall I take off Edi [Cavani].

“We decided to keep Edi as the most offensive, the more 'striker' of the two of them and take off Mason.

“It was my call. We could have done it in another way but we chose Mason. We know how the fans like Mason but, until then his effort, and performance was not outstanding but at least he was one of the better players.”

Rangnick added when speaking to Sky Sports: “It was 0-0 and we had our better moments in that part of the game, so we decided to bring on Bruno. He had a big chance to put us 1-0 ahead.

“Mason was good but I had to take somebody off and I didn't want to take one of the no.6s off [Scott McTominay or Nemanja Matic] so the question was should I take off Edi or Mason, and I decided to take off Mason.”

United will be back in action on January 10 when they open their FA Cup campaign for 2021-22 with a third-round clash against Premier League rivals Aston Villa.

Further reading

• Man Utd miles behind City, Liverpool & Chelsea
• Man Utd record worst league result vs Wolves in 40 years
• Ronaldo named captain as Jones replaces Maguire