Marcus Rashford sat down for an exclusive interview with Gary Lineker and Micah Richards for their Stick to Football Podcast
Stephen is a Senior Football Writer who provides extensive around-the-clock coverage for the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News, Football.London and other Reach PLC outlets. In his spare time, Stephen scours the non-league scene around Merseyside, speaking to managers, players and taking in the best of the local action. He joined the ECHO in January 2023 following a period with other REACH PLC sites.
Marcus Rashford of Barcelona
Marcus Rashford spoke openly about Man United and responded to critics.
(Image: Getty Images)
Marcus Rashford is settling into life as a Barcelona player after his loan spell from Manchester United. The 27-year-old could make his competitive bow for the reigning La Liga champions against Mallorca on Saturday.
His move to Catalonia ended a saga surrounding where his future lay after expressing his desire to explore options after spending the second half of last season at Aston Villa. Rashford's displays at Villa Park earned him a call-up for Thomas Tuchel's England side before an injury curtailed his involvement in Unai Emery's side.
The attacker has spoken publicly, and openly, for the first time since joining Barcelona in a sitdown interview with Gary Lineker and Micah Richards.
MEN Sport has taken a look at some of the biggest talking points from the 43-minute chat between the two pundits and the United loanee.
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'The actual transition hasn't started yet'
Rashford provided an eye-opening account of what it was like dealing with the turbulence of coming through the United ranks.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson, the club have been on a steady decline and found themselves at their lowest depth in over 50 years when Amorim failed to heed the difficult circumstances left after Erik ten Hag's dismissal.
Rashford likened it to Liverpool's situation at the beginning of Jurgen Klopp's tenure, where the Anfield club had to navigate tricky waters before tasting the fruits of their labour later down the line.
It was evident that the recent years as a United player, and also a supporter, have greatly affected Rashford watching on from the side or failing to have a desire impact on the pitch.
His comments about United's consistent transition periods had echoes of Ralf Rangnick's open-heart surgery comments.
"Show me a success team that just adapts," said Rashford. "When Fergie was in charge, not only the principles for the first-team but the academy se-up so you could pick of 15 years and they'd all know how to play the Man United way.
"Any team that has been successful, there has been a principle so any player that comes in has to align or add to the principles. At times, I think United were hungry to win so we'd try to adapt and sign players that fit this system but it's reactionary. If your direction is always changing, you can't expect to win the league, you might win some cup tournaments because you have a good coach, players and match-winners.
"But you're not there by accident, yes we have been way below where we deem United to be but if you take a step back like I've been able to do over the last six months, what do you expect? People say we've been in transition for years but you have to start it. The actual transition hasn't started yet.
"When Liverpool went through this with Klopp, they stuck with him, they didn't win in the beginning, people only remember his final few years when he was competing with Man City and winning things.
"To start a transition, you have to make a plan and stick to it, it's not easy to do. This is where I speak about being realistic about the situation, we've had that many different managers and different ideas, strategies in order to win, you end up in no man's land."
He added: "100 percent (it hurts) not just as a player but I'm a Man United fan."
Alan Shearer jibe after criticism
Criticism has tended to follow Rashford in recent years, some more inexplicable than others.
There have been some high-profile critics in the world of football, none other than Lineker and Richards' 'The Rest is Football' fellow podcast host, Alan Shearer.
The trio shared a laugh at the former Newcastle United striker's expense when the topic of personal criticism came to light. Rashford noted that he takes somewhat of a lenient approach to everyday football fans' opinions as they don't see behind the curtain.
There was a particularly high-profile incident between Shearer and Rashford after his difficult run in a United shirt last season. The forward failed to find the back of the net in the opening month of the core and was substituted after 65 minutes in their defeat to Brighton.
The United academy graduate expressed his confusion at being the target of former professional footballers and noted that he will not make the move into the pundit seat.
He said: "I'm honestly fine with people having their opinion on me regardless. I'm doing the thing that I love every day.
"I don't expect the general public to understand that (what goes into being a footballer, some of my friends that are in other sports, like boxing, I don't have a clue what it takes to become a boxer, I like to watch them train or compete but I won't voice my opinion to the public about what this person needs to do, who am I to do that because I don't know.
"I'm more lenient to the general public because they're not to know but when it's ex-players that know the game then I get confused.
"For me, all I know when I come to retire, I'm not going to be doing that, I don't want to put players down, if anything I want to lift them because they're going to play better on the pitch. We all love exciting stuff on the pitch."
Impact of Aston Villa move
Towards the end of the season, there were conversations about whether Rashford's move to Villa Park would become permanent.
His switch from Manchester to the Midlands appeared to be a welcome one as he instantly became an impactful player for Emery's side, alongside fellow loanee Marco Asencio.
Despite the option of a permanent deal not being taken up, Rashford clearly displayed no hard feelings towards the club and highlighted how beneficial it was for him during a difficult period at United.
"I reckon so. I was in Manchester for so long, being somewhere for so long, it's a change," he explained.
"I feel like the timing of me going to Villa was, looking back, it was the exact time for me to do that. The response and reaction from people at the club, it's what I needed on a personal level in that moment.
"It's crazy, six months on, I feel everything is completely different but without that period in the middle, I wouldn't be feeling how I'm feeling now. I feel everything that happened at Villa, bar injury at the end, was expectly how it's supposed to. When I went there (to Villa) the atmosphere was positive and it was what I needed."
Refreshed by Barcelona quality
Rashford finds himself as one of the more experienced players in the Barcelona dressing room after his arrival.
He will feature alongside the likes of Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Gavi, all of whom are under the age of 23.
The style of play also posing as an exciting aspect for the United loanee after spending his career to date in the Premier League. This opportunity could allow for more chances to showcase his qualities, where he can register himself as a key player.
Antony starred for Real Betis last term after enduring difficulty in England's top-flight.
Speaking to Lineker and Richards, he expressed his excitement to play alongside some of the highest-rated talents in Europe.
He said: "It's so refreshing to be playing with them, every day they're full of energy and it keeps you having energy as well.
"They're all really talented but the thing that surprised me is how mature they are on the pitch. They play the game at their own tempo, it's the way they've developed it's different.
"In England, you're developed to always show your skillset, as you get older, there's a time and a place to show your skillset. That's one of the first things I've realised, you look at Pedri who is 22 (or) 23, he's really young but he's got that much experience playing for one of the biggest clubs and in some of the biggest games."
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Still no clarity on where his best position is
The discussion surrounding Rashford's best position may be one of the reasons as to why he eventually failed to cement a place in the first-team on a regular basis.
He was deployed at left-wing, right-wing and up front in an effort to get his quality on the pitch. However, during the interview, Rashford eluded to his preference at being a player with freedom in attacking areas.
Rather that being pinned to a certain position, the 27-year-old's comments fall into the conversation that many have had over where is best for the attacker - and it appears that his favoured position is on the left but his comments surrounding feeling left out when the action is elsewhere, highlights the challenges he faced at Old Trafford.
Eventually, he became a square peg with Amorim preferring to implement a different system that deployed wingbacks with wide players utilised on the flanks or in Alejandro Garnacho's case, more central areas.
"My favourite position is off the left but then it does change throughout a season. It just depends who you're playing with, it just depends who plays in the position you're receiving the ball from," he explained.
"I've been this way since I was a kid, I used to love the right wing when I was younger then I moved over to the left but you miss scoring goals.
"When you are in the middle, you miss touching the ball. When I'm at my best, I'm having that freedom to exploit the backline, from the left it's easy to do the rotation because I find it easy to play off the centre halves shoulder but football is never the same. Some games I'll be on the left, even if I'm having a good game, I see what's on the right and think I wish I was on there."