Former Newcastle and Southampton striker Alan Shearer has stood by his criticism of Marcus Rashford despite acknowledging the forward’s strong performance in Manchester United’s recent win over the Saints, Soccernet.football reports.
Rashford grabbed his first goal of the season in United’s 3-0 victory at St Mary’s, delivering a polished display that had been missing from Erik ten Hag’s side in the early stages of the 2024/25 campaign.
The 26-year-old has faced relentless criticism for his form since the start of last season, following a steep decline in the level of his performances after scoring 30 goals during the 2022/2023 campaign.
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Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer with 260 goals, maintained that the criticism of Rashford was justified, but added that it would no longer be warranted if he continued performing as he did over the weekend.
“I wouldn’t change anything that I’ve said,” the former England international insisted in response to claims that Rashford was upset by the level of criticism he’s been receiving.
“He’s set his own very high standards, you know? He’s a very good player – he’s on a huge contract at Manchester United and he hasn’t played as well as he can do or has done in the past. And when that is the case – at a big football club when you’re a big name – you’re going to get criticised.
“And he did – but he doesn’t get criticised for performances like [against Southampton], you know? When he’s tracking back and running, and taking players on and scoring his goal. He looked a really good player. He’s now got to do that for the rest of the season.”
“There’s a reason why he wasn’t in the England squad. It’s not just the pundits who were critical of him. Other players have overtaken him from where he was a couple of years ago and there’s no doubt that there’s the talent in there, but that has to be a regular.
“That has to be every single week, and not just against Southampton as it was. And then he won’t get criticised. Pretty simple isn’t it?”
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