Marcus Rashford has been blasted for his “absolutely shocking” body language after producing an underwhelming performance in Manchester United’s FA Cup win.
Ralf Rangnick’s men punched their ticket to the FA Cup fourth round for their clash with Middlesbrough in February, but United fought hard to secure the result on Monday night.
Scott McTominay fired United into the lead in the opening 10 minutes at Old Trafford, but Aston Villa pushed the Red Devils to the very end in the fiercely contested third-round FA Cup match.
Rashford was slammed by United fans for his woeful performance against Villa, with the England international subbed off for Anthony Elanga in the second half.
The 24-year-old United star hasn’t scored for his club since United’s 3-0 win over Tottenham last October.
Now, talkSPORT pundit Micky Gray pulled no punches towards Rashford and branded United’s second-half performance as “absolutely awful.”
“Marcus Rashford, I’m sorry, waving your arms around, but if you keep giving the ball away like that, then it’s only a matter of time before you’re off this football field,” he said.
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“It’s happened too many times this season.
“His body language is absolutely shocking at the moment, not just from him, but from a lot of these Manchester United players.
“Their performance in this second half has been absolutely awful.”
United fans echoed Gray’s observation of Rashford’s body language on social media.
Rashford was widely criticised for his attitude during the Villa clash, with damning footage showing that he failed to follow up on Mason Greenwood’s shot.
And a furious Gray launched an astonishing rant over the United forward’s lack of desire to challenge Emiliano Martinez for the loose ball.
“I cannot believe what I’ve just seen,” he said.
“We’ve just seen another replay of it now. Marcus Rashford turns his body away from the Aston Villa goal before Martinez has actually picked the ball up.
“Okay, he was probably waiting for the pass from Mason Greenwood, who’s done fantastic, but I’m not having that from a player, turning your back before the goalkeeper’s picked the ball up.”
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Gray added: “[Rangnick] has got to change it. I’m not the Manchester United manager but I can see when somebody’s having a bad time.
“You cannot put that down at anything other than he doesn’t want to run around. You can have a bad first touch, you can have a really bad game, you can keep giving the ball away but you need to show effort and try.
“He is not running around -- that is as bad as I’ve seen. What he’s just done there is terrible. You do not do that on a football pitch. Turn your back? Please…”
Rangnick has since defended Rashford and admitted that he has been happy with the effort his player has put in both on the pitch and in training.
United will now travel to Villa Park on Saturday for their Premier League clash with their third-round FA Cup opponents.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Marcus Rashford, Manchester United, Premier League, England, FA Cup, Aston Villa, Football
Adnan Riaz