Marcus Rashford has ‘lost the hunger’ at Manchester United, Roy Keane claims
Rashford has scored only four Premier League goals this season
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Roy Keane has accused Marcus Rashford of “taking his eye off the ball” at Manchester United, suggesting that the England international has “lost the hunger”.
Rashford was an unused substitute during the 3-0 victory over Brentford.
Having missed the opening months of the season while recovering from a shoulder injury, the 24-year-old has scored only five times in all competitions, failing to register in the Premier League since since 22 January.
It has been a season of considerable uncertainty at Old Trafford after the installation of Ralf Rangnick as interim manager failed to arrest the club’s poor form, but according to Keane the forward’s troubles extend beyond that period.
Indeed, the former Manchester United midfielder believes Rashford is “playing like a child”, believing that he hasn’t “matured enough”.
“Whether it’s [being] short on confidence, we’ve seen his quality before but we’ve not seen it for a year or two,” said Keane on Sky Sports.
“But it doesn’t look like he’s matured enough. We’ve seen a few games recently, when he was playing at Liverpool through the middle, I said he was playing like a child.
“It’s as if he’s not learnt about the game. He’s drifting. He’s lost the hunger. These young players get a lot of money and good luck to them, but I think he’s lost the eye of the tiger and he’s struggling to get it back.”
Rashford has become an increasingly prominent social activist in the last two years, including forcing the government of the United Kingdom to reverse a decision to remove free school meals for children during the pandemic.
He received an MBE in November of last year.
Keane, however, has now appeared to criticise Rashford’s involvements away from football, and thinks it may be tough for the 46-time England international to recapture his best form.
“I think he’s taken his eye off the ball, whatever [it is] with his off-the-field stuff,” Keane said. “Rashford has been around for a few years now, he’s got that experience and played international football.
“Wherever Man United want to go, Marcus is being left behind. He’s left out again tonight and he must be sitting on the bench going ‘where has it all gone wrong for me?’. He can get it back, he’s shown it before, but sometimes when you do lose it, it is hard to get it back.
“He’s got to get the hunger back into his game and make the runs like we’ve seen tonight from Elanga. Rashford has lost that bit of hunger, which is huge for a player. He is a talent but we’re not seeing it.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments