Marcus Rashford points finger at Man Utd over problem he had for ‘very long time’

Marcus Rashford is thriving since his move to Barcelona and has spoken of his desire to produce his best consistently after leaving Manchester United on loan

Marcus Rashford has blamed an ‘inconsistent environment’ for his struggle to maintain his best form in recent seasons. The forward accepts he needs to improve his reliability, but suggested his Manchester United surroundings did not provide the best platform for him to perform at the peak of his powers.

Rashford, 27, joined Barcelona on loan at the start of this season and has thrived since settling in at the Catalan club. Barca had reservations over signing the England international, but now appear happy to activate the option in his deal to sign him permanently.

The United academy product leads the La Liga side in goal contributions. The attacker has scored three goals and provided five assists in his last seven outings for Barcelona.

The forward’s form follows a difficult period. Rashford dropped out of United’s first team plans following Ruben Amorim’s arrival before moving to Aston Villa on loan, and being a member of United’s ‘bomb squad’ while his team-mates went on pre-season tour this summer.

Rashford has worked under eight different coaches at United since making his debut under Louis van Gaal in 2016. The period has seen Europa League and FA Cup success for the Red Devils but they have failed to find the success realised under Sir Alex Ferguson.

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And Rashford is hoping to bring some consistency to his life and the way he trains to discover his best form once again. “Consistency is a massive part of it,” he told ITV.

“I feel like I’ve been in an inconsistent environment for a very, very long time. So it’s even more difficult to be consistent then.

“Consistency is what I need to bring into my game. I’m looking to do that, I want to be at my best, not sometimes, but as often as possible.

“When people talk about consistency, in order to be consistent in anything, not just sport, you need consistent variables in your life, in the way you train and we’ve just had so many changes so far in my career.

“I have to look forward and that’s definitely one of the things I want to put right and improve on and to be at my best more often. When I’m at my best I really enjoy everything about the sport, so being there is a special thing for me.”

Rashford will hope his form can earn a larger role for England at next summer’s World Cup under Thomas Tuchel. The forward is challenging for a spot in the German’s line up against Latvia on Tuesday.

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