Paul Scholes knows the unique pressures of Manchester United \u2013 and the possible \u2018mistakes\u2019 \u2013 better than anyone. So what\u2019s his Marcus Rashford problem?<\/p>\n
It won\u2019t have surprised Marcus Rashford that moving to another country has failed to extract him from the Manchester United orbit<\/strong><\/a>, nor perhaps how strong opinions toward him remain.<\/p>\n But it would be interesting to hear his thoughts on Paul Scholes openly and happily explaining how \u201cI really struggle to feel happy for him\u201d after Rashford kickstarted his Barcelona career this past week.<\/p>\n That is a remarkable admission, an insight which reveals far more uncomfortable truths about the personality of the pundit than it does the character of the player.<\/p>\n \u201cMainly because of his attitude, and his attitude at United by the time he was leaving,\u201d Scholes continued, obviously on a podcast, obviously with Nicky Butt and Paddy McGuiness.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought he was a disgrace at United, and not trying, which look, if you fall out with the manager then okay. But remember, you\u2019ve got teammates you\u2019re playing with, you\u2019ve got a massive 80,000 there, whatever it is every single week that you have to put a bit of effort in for.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amount of times I saw him at Man United walking, because he wants to leave\u2026I thought his whole demeanour about him was a disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The diatribe went on with shots at his work-rate against Newcastle \u2013 in a game he decided with two excellent goals \u2013 and culminated in a rant about Rashford being dropped for Barcelona\u2019s next game after turning up late to a pre-match meeting<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the f**k? How do you sleep in these days?\u201d an increasingly incredulous Scholes asked, despite it long since having been reported that Rashford had been two minutes late because of a delay in filling out an electronic form, that he didn\u2019t miss any of the pre-match preparations and indeed that he set up the third goal in a win over Valencia from the bench.<\/p>\n A repeat of his past indiscretion under Erik ten Hag this was not<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n But that is the sort of fabrication one can only expect from a professional pundit who \u201creally struggles to feel happy for\u201d someone whose sacrifices and shortcomings he really should almost uniquely understand.<\/p>\n Scholes has an important platform and authoritative voice, but also an obligation to use those properly in an arena as highly charged as that of Manchester United. If he cannot relate to and explain the pressures a professional footballer faces at the elite level and the misjudgements that can sometimes force them to make, that reflects abysmally on him rather than Rashford.<\/p>\n The line about how Rashford \u201cactually quit on Manchester United, and once you quit once, you\u2019ll quit again\u201d stood out too, as did the references to his age no longer being a defence of his actions.<\/p>\n And at 27 that is absolutely fair. Rashford should know better than many of the decisions he made towards the ostensible end of his Manchester United career suggested.<\/p>\n He might also justifiably point out he could have \u201cquit on Manchester United\u201d far sooner instead of playing through the pain of back, shoulder and foot injuries to be the most-used player by Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and second for Erik ten Hag.<\/p>\n But a 26-year-old Scholes would have been grateful not to face this constant level of withering censure and scrutiny when he made what has since been described as his biggest career regret<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI made a mistake,\u201d Scholes has said of a moment his \u201chead had just gone\u201d in November 2001. \u201cI did stupid things when I was a kid, when I was younger,\u201d he added of refusing to play in a League Cup tie against Arsenal 24 hours after only getting 13 minutes from the bench in a defeat to Liverpool.<\/p>\n Except he was no more \u201ca kid\u201d then than Rashford is now, no less responsible for his choices and actions. Scholes was fined two weeks\u2019 wages, much as Rashford was during his infamous Belfast-based indiscretion<\/strong><\/a> at precisely the same age around 18 months ago.<\/p>\n The difference is less in the players and far more in the club and its corroded culture. Manchester United in 2001 is the diametric opposite to Manchester United in 2025. The former was defined by the support network and sensational man-management of Sir Alex Ferguson; the latter protects nothing and no-one, exposing all it touches to toxicity and self-destruction.<\/p>\n\n