Rashford: Man United’s 12-year ‘transition’ is just a myth

Marcus Rashford has delivered a brutal assessment of Manchester United’s struggles since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, claiming the club’s so-called “transition” never actually began.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast with Gary Lineker, the 27-year-old winger, who left Old Trafford for Barcelona on loan last month  said the Red Devils have spent over a decade drifting without a clear plan.

“People say we’ve been in a transition for years, but to be in a transition you have to start it,” Rashford said. “The actual transition hasn’t started yet. We’ve had so many different managers, ideas and strategies that you end up in no man’s land.”

The England forward, who scored 138 goals in 426 appearances for United, compared the club’s instability to Liverpool’s patience with Jürgen Klopp. “When Liverpool went through this, they got Klopp and stuck with him. They didn’t win in the beginning, but they had a plan and stuck to it.”

Rashford accused United of being “reactionary” in their approach, unlike under Ferguson, when a clear set of principles guided the first team and academy alike. “Any successful club has principles. If your direction is always changing, you can’t expect to win the league,” he added.

His comments come after United’s worst-ever Premier League season, which saw them spend more than £200m this summer on Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko. Rashford’s own final months at the club were marked by a fallout with manager Ruben Amorim, leading to a loan spell at Aston Villa before his Barcelona move.

Asked if the situation at Old Trafford hurts, Rashford replied: “Yeah, 100 per cent. Not just as a player but as a fan.”