Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford still shows off his roots in Manchester
Marcus Rashford has been criticised for a lack of effort, playing without heart, and for being lazy when representing Manchester United. He has been labelled as greedy. His actions - not chasing back or sprinting enough on the pitch - speak louder than his words, it has been said.
However, when the same Rashford turned up at his old primary school on Tuesday, another side to him was shown. More accurately, the part of Rashford which has always been there and is often reflected off the field, was public-facing, as opposed to the footballer we usually see.
This is the grateful Rashford, the one who will be ignored when he isn't scoring goals or laying on assists. To a great deal of those who watch him at Old Trafford and beyond, this Rashford is actually a reason that the wonderkid from almost 10 years ago has been lost, replaced by a shadow of the former electric striker.
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Rashford, his detractors - both in the stands and in the media - will say, has been too often distracted. Be it with visits like this, heading to Button Lane to give out Christmas gifts to pupils, or trying to do the work of the British government in attempts to feed young children during the Covid-19 pandemic.
That this is even a conversation or a topic says more about the sporting world and the judgement athletes are exposed to than anything that can be produced when they are in action. For Rashford, it is almost fitting - probably deliberate - that what looks to be an official start of the end has happened here.
“For me, personally, I think I'm ready for a new challenge and the next steps," he told journalist Henry Winter when asked what the future held for him, especially after being left out of Ruben Amorim's squad for the Manchester derby on Sunday.
Rashford's name, or rather the lack of his name or appearance at the Etihad Stadium, almost overshadowed one of the biggest matches of the season. Had it not been for Amad and a late turnaround, then it almost certainly would have.
In the days since, Rashford has been the story more than Amorim and his challenge to turn around a crumbling club. Last week it was reported that he had been made available in the January window at a cut-price of £40million. That is a significant drop-off from his value two years ago, or in 2020.
Even in the summer there was noise that Rashford could leave. Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe never went as far as backing him or anyone else at the club. Just about everybody was up for sale. People were expendable.
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This all came less than a year on from signing a new long-term deal. Rashford earned that by ending Erik ten Hag's first season in charge with 30 goals, sometimes looking like the only way forward for United. Tied down by massive wages, just how long he would remain at his boyhood club was never quite certain. Rashford has always generated attention, be it for his footballing or non-footballing activity.
He has been a walking transfer rumour, basically since day one. When not spoken about as a star he is muddied and broken down instead.
Rashford, as Elton John said, is still standing. He has largely batted away and come through criticism. The last two years have been different, though, with form dipping on a personal and team level.
That is what has led to Roy Keane suggesting, before these latest comments from his Wythenshawe roots, that the time for a move has come. Rashford, classy as always, responded to the questions of an exit in the only way he knows how.
“When I leave it's going to be no hard feelings," he explained. "You’re not going to have any negative comments from me about Manchester United. That’s me as a person.
"If I know that a situation is already bad I'm not going to make it worse. I've seen how other players have left in the past and I don't want to be that person. When I leave I'll make a statement and it will be from me.”
Rashford was booed off the field at the end of last season during the FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City. More groans and dissent were heard last week at Viktoria Plzen. He is regularly hammered by readers in the comments of this site and social media is just as vitriolic.
On Tuesday he posted on Instagram after the visit to Button Lane, regardless. "Great day joining in the Christmas festivities at Button Lane Primary School [Christmas tree emoji]" he wrote.
This is what Rashford has always been able to do and will always do. He is from Manchester. A United fan for life - "Yes, 100 per cent" - and with this place at his heart even if it can be a cause of hurt and may soon have to wield a painful goodbye.
He has always been loyal to the area and helps the club with foundation and charity work. He does plenty off his own back as well. "I don’t like to see kids go through what I went through growing up so as many kids as I can help I will," he told Winter. "That's why the programme needs to go on for as long as possible and it needs to keep improving.”
He has come to move past the doubters and the loud voices, too. “I do feel misunderstood but I’m fine with it," Rashford added when talk of his professionalism and attitude was raised. "I’m a very simple person. I love football. That’s been my life from the beginning.”
He is just as determined to get better in the months and years to come, whether that is at Old Trafford or, as is increasingly likely, elsewhere. “I’m halfway through my career. I don’t expect my peak to be now.
"I've had nine years so far in the Premier League and that’s taught me a lot, that’s helped me grow as a player and as a person. So I don't have any regrets from the last nine years. I won’t have any regrets going forward because I take things day by day, and sometimes bad things happen, sometimes good things happen. I just try and keep a fine balance."
It is that balance that has made Rashford so valuable to Manchester (and often to United). Whether in form or out of form, has always stood up for the city. He has put himself on the line for England as well. The fickle nature of sport and football has seen him ridiculed and abused for both.
That is the life and the expectation that professionals have to deal with, some will argue. Players, themselves, will shrug it off as a counterweight of the privilege for being in their position, acting as a negative for all the positives - and no, money does not make up for it.
A growing number of players will shield themselves, or attempt to, anyway, from the spotlight as they seek to ignore and to focus. Rashford has never been one of those. He has always gone above and beyond to fight the battles closest to him and that he felt worth sticking up for. In some cases he went out there when coming out on top wasn't even in the equation. He simply acted as a name and a voice, to raise awareness and to embody.
It is this Rashford that faces outwards and shines above even when his football doesn't. It is this Rashford that was there, present in his place, and where will always be his home, when he all but confirmed the decision to leave.