Marcus Rashford's Struggles at Manchester United

Marcus Rashford walked off at Craven Cottage with a sore hip and a heavier burden than that.

Four starts from Manchester United’s five league games. More than 400 minutes on the pitch. No goals. No assists. For a forward once tipped to carry the club’s attack, the numbers are stark enough. It’s the body language that worries Michael Owen.

Speaking on Premier League Productions after United’s 1-1 draw with Fulham, the former striker did not hold back.

“On the left, Marcus Rashford has been probably the quietest of those attackers,” Owen said. “He was quiet again today in his body language, just the glum face. He just doesn’t seem to be loving his football which has been a permanent frustration with Marcus.”

Rashford’s afternoon never really caught fire. Stationed off the left, he drifted in and out of the game, rarely threatening, rarely smiling. For a player with his speed and power, the contrast between talent and output is becoming a familiar theme.

Owen pressed that point. The tools are there. The consistency is not.

“It does look like the weight of the world is on his shoulders and you just think how? Why? He’s living everybody’s dream,” he said. “Surely there’s something behind the scenes that is making him look as if he’s not enjoying his football at the moment.”

The questions around Rashford don’t stop at Old Trafford. His recent spell abroad still lingers in the conversation.

“Last chance saloon was Barcelona,” Owen reflected. “I couldn’t believe his luck in getting a team like Barcelona. He does reasonably well out there, but not well enough for them to keep him and then they end up spending fortunes to replace him by buying Anthony Gordon. So, it wasn’t all perfect. It wasn’t all rosy despite any spin that people put on it.”

The message is clear: that move was supposed to reset his career. It didn’t. Not fully.

Now he is back at United, fighting for his place in a forward line that suddenly feels less secure for him than at any time in years.

“And then he comes back to Manchester United. He’s done okay, but only okay,” Owen said. “And he needs to probably do a little bit better in that front three because his is the position in the attack that would be vulnerable.”

The threat is real. Owen pointed to the growing calls for Benjamin Sesko to return to the starting XI once fit. If that happens, the knock-on effect is obvious.

“There’s a bit of a demand for Benjamin Sesko to come back in and start, injury permitting of course. But if that happens, Cunha is going to go on the left and Rashford would be the weak link in that attack as things stand.”

From guaranteed starter to “weak link” in the space of a few months. The shift is brutal, but it reflects the mood around his performances.

For now, the debate pauses. Rashford’s hip problem, which forced him off in the second half at Fulham, rules him out of England’s upcoming Nations League fixtures against Spain, Czechia and Croatia over the next three weeks. The international break, usually a stage he relishes, will go on without him.

That leaves Manchester United with a challenge and an opportunity. They must nurse him back to full fitness, but that alone won’t be enough. When he returns, they need to find the version of Rashford who plays with freedom, not the one carrying the “weight of the world” that Owen sees.

Because if they can’t, someone else will be waiting to take his place.