Manchester United manager Michael Carrick may need to rethink how he is using Marcus Rashford after placing so much faith in the forward this season.
Few expected Rashford to wear the famous red shirt again after he was banished to the infamous “bomb squad” in the summer of 2025.
He was sent on a season-long loan to Barcelona where he enjoyed a good campaign and helped the club win the coveted La Liga title.
Barcelona surprised many by turning down the opportunity to sign Rashford permanently for £26 million.
Carrick was ready to welcome back the 28-year-old with open arms and has allowed him to feature in five of the six games.
The United academy graduate was rested only for the UEFA Champions League clash against Sabah FK.
Unfortunately, Rashford is still waiting for his first goal or assist of the season.
The winger has looked electric at times, taking on defenders with confidence and repeatedly creating openings for his teammates.
It is fair to say that he has been extremely unfortunate to have registered zero goal contributions.
Some may already view Rashford as a problem, but that would be a lazy and unfair assessment.
He remains a quality attacker capable of changing the course of a game, but his inconsistency is becoming increasingly difficult for the current United side to overcome.
Rashford repeatedly got the better of Brighton right-back Costinha during the opening 45 minutes. He looked like United’s biggest attacking threat despite Shea Lacey giving the hosts an early lead.
However, his influence faded considerably after the interval.
Bruno Fernandes sent him through with a superb pass, but Rashford could not beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one opportunity just moments before being substituted.
The same pattern emerged against Manchester City last weekend.
Rashford created chances and arguably should have registered at least one assist, but his teammates failed to capitalise.
More was expected from him after the break, yet he once again struggled to maintain the same intensity.
Carrick has shown enormous faith in Rashford, but the manager must recognise that his trusted attacker is not offering the same threat throughout the full 90 minutes.
Rashford was taken off around the 80th minute in each of the last two games, while Carrick also waited until after the 70th minute to replace him against Everton.
The United head coach needs to be more proactive and recognise when Rashford is tiring before his influence disappears completely.
Another option could be to deploy him as a super-sub, allowing him to attack tired defenders and maximise his pace and directness late in games.
Rashford remains a talented player who can play a valuable role for United this season.
However, Carrick cannot afford to rely blindly on him when he has attacking options on the bench capable of injecting fresh energy into the game.
Stats from Fotmob.com
