Manchester United legend Paul Scholes did not hold back in his appraisal of Marcus Rashford after his Barcelona heroics last week
Marcus Rashford celebrates completing a brace for Barcelona against Newcastle in the Champions League(Image: Lee Parker – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Manchester United supporters are no strangers to seeing their club legends offer their own brutal and, often, unfiltered takes on the current crop of players.
It has become such a common occurrence these days that, most of the time, it does not seem to make a dent in the United discourse. However, one player who has seemingly been immune to the truly brutal criticism is Marcus Rashford.
While the winger has been attacked, for the most part, unjustly for caring about social causes as well as football, club legends have often reserved their toughest critiques elsewhere. But that grace seems to no longer be afforded to Rashford.
READ MORE: Benjamin Sesko urged to storm off in dramatic Man United training move to make his pointREAD MORE: Paul Scholes launches astonishing Marcus Rashford rant – ‘He won’t get away with that’
In fact, it was altogether startling to see Paul Scholes become the first player to really lay into the current Barcelona winger on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. “There’s no doubt the talent that kid has got, it’s ridiculous, he’s shown up in a big game, and that second goal was brilliant,” the former midfielder began before unleashing the knockout blow.
“I really struggled to feel happy for him, to feel pleased for him. Mainly because his attitude, his attitude at United.
“The time he was leaving, I thought it was just a disgrace at United, not trying, basically. Look, if you fell out with a manager, then okay, but remember, you’ve got teammates you’re playing with.
“You’ve got a massive 80,000 there, whatever it is, every single week that you have to put a bit of effort in. The amount of times I saw him at United walking because he wants to leave, I thought his whole demeanour was a disgrace.
“I think he actually quit on Manchester United. And once you quit once, you’ll quit again.”
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes(Image: Getty Images)
Scholes’ assessment of Rashford will resonate with a lot of United fans who became thoroughly frustrated by the winger at times towards the end. Very few would have been happy to see him bag a brace against Newcastle because of this.
But what Scholes has failed to acknowledge in his rant is how much Rashford had given to the club when it was not reciprocated by his team-mates. He consistently notched double figures for goals for United while those around him failed to match his efforts.
Did his effort levels drop eventually? Perhaps.
However, the question needs to be why did that happen? Honestly, it seems he simply became tired with the chopping and changing at the top of the club while results continuously underwhelmed.
Rashford was arguably loyal to a fault. He wanted to stay but the club, like so many since Sir Alex Ferguson, wore him down to a point where that was no longer viable.
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
£49
£35
Sky
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.
He may have quit United but this decision was long overdue. The relationship was no longer mutually beneficial and I am not sure the club would have ever had the guts to call it quits.
Rashford took that decision out of their hands. You may not agree with the way he went about it but you can’t argue with the fact it was necessary for all involved.
Should he sign permanently for Barcelona next summer, it will be the best thing for him and United.
Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.
And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.