Marcus Rashford explains Man United’s biggest problem | OneFootball

Marcus Rashford has revealed what he believes to be the biggest problem at Manchester United as the club, who he says are stuck “in no man’s land” try to bounce back from their worst season in decades.

United finished a dismal 15th in the Premier League last term, their lowest top-flight finish since they were relegated back in 1973-74, and failed to win a trophy – although they did reach the Europa League final before losing to Tottenham.

Ruben Amorim has a big task to turn things round at Old Trafford, with the club largely struggling by their high standards since last winning the league back in 2013.

Rashford won’t be there to try and help spark an improvement after joining Barcelona on an initial 12-month loan, with the Catalan giants having the option of signing the 27-year-old on a permanent basis for £30.3m in 2026.

His time at Old Trafford came to a bitter end, having not played for his boyhood club since last December after being dropped by Amorim and spending the second half of the 2024-25 season on loan at Aston Villa.

The forward now becomes the first England men’s international to sign for Barca since Gary Lineker in 1986 and sat down for an interview with Lineker and The Rest is Football co-host Micah Richards to discuss the issues at United, where he highlighted their biggest issue.

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Marcus Rashford made his Barcelona debut at the end of July in a friendly against Vissel Kobe (Getty Images)

“Show me a successful team that just adapts,” said Rashford. “When Fergie was in charge, not only the principles for the first team – the whole academy set up so you could pick players from 15 years and over – that’s a full generation. And they’d all understand the principles of playing the Man United way, right?

“You see it with any team that’s been successful over a period of time – they have principles that any coach that comes in, any player that comes in, has to align to these principles or be able to add to these principles.

“Whereas at times I feel like United have just been… we’re hungry to win, so we’ll always try to adapt and to sign players that fit this system. But it’s reactionary.

“If your direction’s always changing, you can’t expect to be able to win the league. Yeah, you might win some cup tournaments, but it’s because you do have a good coach and you do have good players and you have match winners in your team – you’re not there by accident.

“This is what some people forget. So yeah, we’ve been way below where we deem United to be. But then if you take a step back, which I’ve been able to do, especially over the last six months – what do you expect? People say we’ve been in a transition for years. To be in a transition, you have to start the transition. So it’s like the actual transition’s not started yet.”

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Rashford was dropped by Ruben Amorim at the back-end of 2024 (PA Wire)

While United have faltered over the past decade, rivals Manchester City and Liverpool have thrived, with the pair largely dominating English football.

And while United fans will undoubtedly not want to hear this, Rashford believes the club can learn from how Liverpool handled the beginning of the Jurgen Klopp era.

“When Liverpool went through this, they got Klopp, they stuck with him,” added Rashford. “They didn’t win in the beginning. People only remember his final few years when he was competing with City and winning the biggest trophies – he certainly didn’t win for three years.

“To start a transition, you have to make a plan and stick to it. So this is the thing that I feel – it’s not easy. Because if it’s not going well, the fans demand [change]. But this is where I speak about being realistic with what your situation is.

“I feel like we’ve had that many different managers and different ideas and different strategies in order to win… you end up in the middle of – you end up in no man’s land.”