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Alan Shearer has predicted that Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford is in danger of not even making the England squad for this summer’s EURO 2024 tournament.
The forward has had a tough campaign where his professionalism and his output have both been heavily criticised by fans and pundits alike.
The forward has turned his form around a little recently as he has scored in his last three consecutive games for the Red Devils, including the vital equaliser in extra-time versus Liverpool that the Old Trafford side used as a platform to claim a stunning last-gasp victory.
The winger however has been far from his best this year and in advance of this month’s international friendlies, he was warned by England manager Gareth Southgate, that his position in the squad is not 100% safe.
The player was only called upon to play 15 minutes in total against both Brazil and Belgium, fuelling speculation that the player is not a major part of the coach’s plans for the summer tournament.
Adding to this, pundit Alan Shearer, wrote in The Athletic that, “if Rashford plays well between now and the end of the season, then that could potentially force the manager’s hand. But I don’t think he’s a certainty to go, no”.
“He’s not a centre-forward, he doesn’t want to play there. He’d be going as a wide forward who can play as a striker in an emergency.
“You can tell from his body language that he doesn’t want to play there for Manchester United. If he’s going to be in the squad, it wouldn’t be ahead of Harry Kane, Watkins or Toney, it’d be as a wide forward”.
Shearer compared Rashford’s form with that of fellow United player, Kobbie Mainoo.
“Mainoo definitely [played his way into Southgate’s plans], considering that this season he’s been unbelievable. What a story, given where he was last summer to where he is now”.
The all-time Premier League top scorer is not the first former player to warn Rashford about his England future as Paul Ince has previously argued that the player needs to mature to fight his way back into the England starting line-up.
To be fair to Rashford, it has been reported that he is carrying a knock and this has impacted his club form. Furthermore, despite not being in-form the player has shown his scary potential in the past when he was the club’s top scorer last season and he broke the 30 goal mark for the first time in his career.
In addition, nobody would deny that Rashford is capable of producing moments of magic such as his sensational strike versus Manchester City earlier this month. A fresh Rashford coming off the bench to run at tired defenders is a mouth-watering aspect for any football fan.
Moreover, with Southgate’s penchant to stick to favourites, it seems unlikely the player would be dropped.
Nonetheless, footballers are ambitious and it will hurt Rashford’s pride immensely that the topic is so discussed and truthfully it would be a huge surprise were the player to get in the starting line-up bar significant injuries in the wide areas.
The only way to give Southgate something to think about is by finishing the season strongly for Manchester United by scoring goals and inspiring his side to an FA Cup victory and finishing in the Champions League spots.
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