Deeney tells Michael Carrick ‘bang average’ Man Utd player is the problem – ‘shoehorning him’ | OneFootball

TalkSPORT pundit Troy Deeney has outlined how Marcus Rashford has become a problem for Manchester United manager Michael Carrick.

Rashford has started four Premier League games for Man Utd so far this season.

The England international winger also started for Man Utd in their 3-2 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion at Old Trafford in the third round of the Carabao Cup last week.

Rashford prefers to play on the left wing, which is where Matheus Cunha played 19 times for Man Utd last season.

Man Utd manager Carrick also publicly said this week that Bryan Mbeumo prefers to play on the left wing.

Former Watford striker Deeney believes that Rashford has become a problem for Man Utd, with Carrick forcing him into his starting line-up.

The talkSPORT pundit made the observation in the wake of Man Utd’s 1-1 draw with Fulham in the Premier League at the weekend.

Striker Benjamin Sesko missed the match due to injury, with Rashford playing on the left wing.

Bryan Mbeumo was deployed as the right winger, with Matheus Cunha as the number nine and Bruno Fernandes playing in the number 10 role.

Marcus Rashford ‘bang average’ for Man Utd

Deeney said on talkSPORT (10:09am, September 21, 2026): “I will make it sound like it’s a Marcus Rashford thing, but you had something that worked, with Cunha, Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes, and it’s just that number 9 that’s an issue.

“Since Marcus Rashford has been, since the second half of the whole game, when he brings him on, Sesko’s out and now you are messing with the thing that was working to appease Marcus Rashford, who, by the way, has been bang average.

“And everyone keeps trying to tell me he has been good. He has been bang average – no goals, no assists. You are messing with something that was already working.

“So, when I look at Man Utd, I think there’s part of the problem is that you have gone back to the cycle again. Rashford wasn’t in your plans.

“Unfortunately, you didn’t get the deal done, he is still in it, and now you are shoehorning him into play him fit. But with that, you lose Cunha on the left-hand side, causing his best work.”

Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan believes that Man Utd should have got rid of Rashford in the summer transfer window.

Rashford spent last season on loan at Barcelona from Man Utd.

Barcelona decided against a permanent deal for the England international winger, with Man Utd making him part of Carrick’s first-team squad for this season.

Jordan said: “I am with Troy on the Rashford argument.

“I have got no issue with Marcus. I think he is a wasted talent, and I think he has shown himself.

“I think he has shown himself with his pathetic podcast he did a couple of years ago that worries me.

“And he has shown himself not being valuable to Barcelona, so why Man Utd need him back, I don’t know.

“I think they should have made a decision – either bought him out of his contract or let him go on a discounted deal and helped his wages along the way, just to clear the decks and give people the opportunity to build forward rather than having to go back.”