Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has argued that one Manchester United star should have been “nailed” by the coaching staff and teammates over what he did on the pitch.
Graeme Souness recalled the incident involving the Manchester United player from the 2-1 Premier League win against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.
Rasmus Hojlund, who has since been ruled out through injury, fired the Red Devils into a 2-0 lead against Luton Town with a stunning brace inside 10 minutes.
Despite their promising start against Luton Town, United failed to keep up their momentum and Carlton Morris pulled one back for his side in the 14th minute.
However, Luton Town were unable to secure an equaliser against United and Erik ten Hag’s men walked away with all three Premier League points from the contest.
Souness has now claimed that he was not impressed with how one United star was “going through the motions” towards the late stages of the match.
Souness critical of Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford failed to impress with his performance against Luton Town and the Manchester United star was criticised for one moment in particular.
The United forward went viral on social media after footage emerged of his attempts to press against Luton Town midfielder Ross Barkley during injury time.
Rashford remained at a distance from Barkley and never committed to a challenge on the former Chelsea and Everton man while trying to apply pressure for United.
Barkley had ample time and space on the ball and was able to breeze past Rashford from the right before he picked out Albert Sambi Lokonga with a pass on the left.
Speaking in his column for The Daily Mail, Graeme Souness insisted that United’s coaching staff and players should have “nailed” Rashford for his ineffective pressing.
“There was footage last week of Marcus Rashford going through the motions of trying to press Luton Town’s Ross Barkley,” he wrote.
“Ross almost walked past him. Rashford is a senior player, an England international.
“That action, that standard, would suggest he does that in training and neither his teammates or coaching staff have nailed him for it.”
Souness on Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Man Utd
Souness insisted that Rashford’s display against Barkley should be a worry for Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has since become a co-owner at United after his minority stake was approved.
Ratcliffe has made it clear that he wants to restore United to the top of English football and have the club challenge the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool.
But Souness still feels United are far off from Ratcliffe’s big ambitions and they lack first-team players with a “big character” to support Erik ten Hag in the dressing room.
“That’s the worry for Ratcliffe,” he continued.
“Have United got players who take responsibility, carry the flag into battle and are prepared to fall out with teammates?”
Souness added: “Who are the senior players with big character who are going to help Ten Hag in that dressing room?
“Ones who will point the finger at the lesser lights and drag them to a higher level. I’m not sure they exist there.
“So, you can talk about plans as much as you like, but paramount to Ratcliffe’s challenge is to find the right characters to bridge this gap.”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/hYQagG1