Marcus Rashford’s loan move to Barcelona was an unwise choice | OneFootball

“Barcelona is the club of my dreams”.

Those were Marcus Rashford’s words after signing for the Spanish giants on a season-long loan from Manchester United in June.

It brought an end, if only temporarily, to a twenty-year association with his boyhood club, having joined the academy at just five years of age. It was not a happy goodbye, however.

A dispute with Ruben Amorim over standards on the pitch and in the training ground led the Portuguese coach to drop Rashford for the Manchester Derby – which is set to take place later this afternoon – in December last season.

Rashford’s response was to release an unauthorised interview declaring his intention to leave Old Trafford, a move badly received by Amorim and his coaching staff, as well as the club’s executive structure.

The 27-year-old forward would not play for United again after this decision, eventually agreeing a loan move to Aston Villa in the January transfer window for the second half of the campaign, before another loan was struck with Barcelona for this season.

The message was from United to Rashford was clear: you will not play in a red shirt again under Amorim, who has our full support.

This article is not intended to focus on the deterioration of the relationship between the player and his manager or club. You can read more about that here.

Instead, this is an exploration of whether the switch to Catalonia was really the correct step for a footballer who can ill-afford another wasted season at this critical juncture in his career.

Essentially, will the ‘dream move’ to Barcelona have a happily ever after? The Peoples Person thinks not – for two main reasons.

Playing second fiddle

The first reason why Rashford joining the Spanish giant was a poor choice is they only view him as a squad player, a back-up option to their scintillating frontline of Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal.

Luis Diaz, prior to his switch from Liverpool to Bayern Munich later in the window, was Barcelona’s main target after a failed pursuit of Athletic Bilbao talisman Nico Williams. It was only the club’s financial limitations which prevented a deal for the Colombian, leading to a pivot towards Rashford as a cheaper alternative.

But Hansi Flick’s preferred forward line in his aggressive 4-3-3 system remains clear.

When all three of these stars – Raphinha, Lewandowski and Yamal – are fit, Rashford will undoubtedly be used from the bench as the Carrington graduate does not come close to matching their quality or attacking output.

Modern football involves long and winding campaigns for big clubs, particularly those competing on all fronts, both domestically and continentally, as Barcelona will be this season. There will be ample opportunities for Rashford to rotate with Hansi Flick’s main men.

But the England international has always been a ‘streaky’ player, going through quiet periods of form before exploding into life with a glut of goals. How does a player who relies on streaks to justify his place in a team play himself into one when he is being summoned from the bench most weeks?

Rashford needs consistent minutes to overcome his inconsistent tendencies – a luxury he will not be afforded at the Camp Nou.

Furthermore, despite having been shifted around the forward line throughout his career, Rashford’s optimal position is on the left wing.

He can play through the middle, or do a job out on the right, but his best form has always come when stationed on his favoured left-hand side, free to cut in onto his stronger foot.

The competition for the left-wing berth? Raphinha, a player who has missed 19 games through injury across the last six seasons, with three of those absences a result of contracting Covid-19.

At 28, the Brazilian winger is at his absolute peak, both technically and physically, returning an impressive 34 goals and 25 assists last season. He played 57 times in total.

Out of Barcelona’s front three, Raphinha is the option who requires the least amount of rest, given the opposing age ranges of the other two options, Lewandowski (37) and Yamal (18).

Rashford can deputise as a centre-forward or on the right-wing. But it is not where he has thrived for United or England, making the idea he will return to his best in these positions in Spain a fanciful one.

Rashford’s pace and athleticism do lend themselves favourably to being an option from the bench, however, as he can stretch defences manned by tired legs.

But this is where the second reason why Barcelona was an unwise choice comes into play: his skillset does not suit the system in Spain.

A poor fit stylistically

Under Flick, Barcelona play one of the most aggressive high lines in all of Europe as the German manager seeks to suffocate teams in their own halves.

It has been an incredibly successful, albeit risky, approach which saw his side dominate possession through pressing in his debut season. Barcelona averaged 69.1% of the ball in La Liga last year; Real Madrid were second on the list with 60.5%.

During his time at the Theatre of Dreams, Rashford’s technical ability and work rate have always been inconsistent.

He lacks the assured first touch every Barcelona player appears to possess, while he has never played in a team seeking to dominate with the ball.

He is also lackadaisical out of possession (OOP) and an inconsistent presser. Whether this was due to poor execution from the manager, a lack of cohesion with his teammates, or simply laziness is unclear. It’s likely a combination of the three.

But it’s not Rashford’s inability to match Flick’s demands off the ball, or his unfamiliarity in a possession-based style, which will cause him issues. Rather, it’s the effect this approach has on the opposition.

Barcelona’s high line and relentless press pin their opponents back, constricting the gap inbetween the defence and goalkeeper. This hurts Rashford as he thrives in counter-attacks with the space to make penetrating runs in behind the backline.

When a team is in control of the ball for nearly 70% of a match, the opportunities to break on a defence in transition are limited – and therefore Rashford becomes limited himself. He needs space to operate in, but his new manager’s philosophy is founded upon limiting this as much as possible.

An unwise choice

Rashford’s decision to go on loan to Barcelona was a misguided one, no matter how long-standing a dream it was.

No team in Europe’s top five leagues had a higher average possession than the Blaugrana last year. And no team in Europe had a more productive left-winger than Raphinha. These two reasons alone should have been sufficient reasons for Rashford to have chosen a different path than the one to Catalonia.

Once we factor in Flick’s OOP demands, Rashford’s technical inconsistency in possession, and the fact Barcelona simply settled on the United star as the cheapest alternative to other preferred targets, we’re left with a story which has only one conclusion: a return to Old Trafford at the end of the season.

A major target for Rashford this season was to regain his place for England with the World Cup set to take place in the United States next summer.

Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel has included the forward in his recent squads, putting his full trust in the 27-year-old. But Rashford has yet to repay this faith with a series of inconsistent performances masked by a last-minute penalty in the 5-0 demolition of Serbia earlier in the week.

Rashford runs the risk of missing out on the plane to America if he cannot find the form he has previously shown for United. And, as explained above, he is very unlikely to do so in a Barcelona shirt.

So what shirt should Rashford have adopted for this season if the red and blue in Catalonia was the incorrect choice? The answer lies in Italia.

Rashford should have pushed to join a side in Serie A as the league’s slower pace allows players from the Premier League to dominate in a way they never could in England.

The Englishman need look no further than his fellow Academy graduate – Scott McTominay – as evidence of the transformation a switch to Serie A can have on a career, with the Scotland international going from an inconsistent midfielder to a Ballon d’Or contender in the space of one year in Naples.

Or, in the reverse direction, how recruits from Italy’s top division – Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee spring to mind – can thrive in Serie A but struggle acutely in the Premier League.

With better judgement, ignoring the allure of childhood dreams, Rashford’s skillset, with his potent pairing of speed and strength, should have seen him enjoy an Italian renaissance this season.

Instead, it will resemble more of a Catalonian curse for Marcus the Mancunian.

Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images

online polls

Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social