Marcus Rashford suffers familiar fate as he fails to heed Thomas Tuchel’s warning

England boss Thomas Tuchel started Marcus Rashford in place of the injured Anthony Gordon against Serbia at Wembley on Thursday night, but the on loan Barcelona star would have hoped to make a bigger impression

Neither of the two stars who scored the last two England goals at Euro 2024 – Ollie Watkins and Cole Palmer – are in Thomas Tuchel’s final squad of 2025.

However, Marcus Rashford, who did not even go to Germany, had a clear chance to book his ticket to North America last night. But the on-loan Barcelona forward failed to grab it.

At 28, Rashford should be at the peak of his powers and a superstar at his third World Cup next summer. Last month Thomas Tuchel had warned him to finally live up to the international potential he first showed when he scored on his England debut in 2016.

“He has the potential but potential is a dangerous word with high-level sports,” said the German. “It’s not a question of talent, it’s a question of whether he can prove the point at club and international level.”

Tuchel wants more from the gifted Rashford. And this dead rubber World Cup qualifier against a very average Serbia side was an ideal stage to be the star of the show. Or at least make a meaningful impact.

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With Anthony Gordon out injured, the Manchester United forward was deployed on the left with debutant Nico O’Reilly and given the opportunity to bring his sunny Spanish form to rainy North London. He scored twice in his last appearance in England at Newcastle and netted four goals in his last seven games for Barcelona.

Speaking on the Stick to Football yesterday, his former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said yesterday: “I don’t know what’s happened in Marcus’s life, but you can see he’s enjoying himself now and in Barcelona. It looked like he didn’t enjoy himself here [Manchester United] at the end.”

But he flattered to deceive last night – with goalscorer Bukayo Saka more efficient down the other flank. Gordon’s uncomplicated directness was missed by Tuchel’s flat side. You could not fault Rashford’s effort but nothing worked for him.

He mis-controlled an early pass to his chest and shot straight at keeper Pedrag Rajkovic when slipped in by Declan Rice. And the attacker over-cooked a pass to the Arsenal midfielder on a counterattack just before the break.

At the start of the second half, he cut in from the left but his frustrating night was summed up when his low shot was deflected wide by Kane. He was replaced by Eberechi Eze after 64 minutes with Phil Foden replacing the England captain, that pair combining as the Arsenal man struck a wonderful late second.

Another reason for Tuchel to take Rashford is his versatility, with Kane the only recognised striker in the 25-man squad. The German has said that Gordon and Rashford could also fill the central striking role.

When Gareth Southgate left Rashford out of his Euro 2024 squad after his poor season at Manchester United, he stated: “Other players in that area of the pitch had better seasons.”

Now Watkins, who netted that memorable winner in the semi-final against the Netherlands in Germany, is risking a similar fate affter only one goal and no assists this season. Tuchel is spoiled for No.10s – including the injured Palmer – but not for back up for Kane. The only English strikers to have scored more than once in the Premier League this season are Danny Welbeck and Callum Wilson.

A fit and firing Rashford would be a huge plus to the England squad. But as Tuchel has shown with his treatment of Jude Bellingham, he is not afraid to make big decisions with big names.