Marcus Rashford fails to lay down marker ahead of make-or-break Manchester United season

Forward misses glorious chance in Community Shield leaving fans wondering which version of player they will get in new campaign

Marcus Rashford can still count on the support of Manchester United’s young fans as the pint-sized pitch invader at Wembley proved. But those hoping to see him lay down a marker for the season in Saturday’s Community Shield will have been left disappointed.
The youngster who escaped the clutches of a pursuing steward only had eyes for one man, as he raced from the United end and managed to get a quick cuddle with Rashford before being escorted away.
But that was about as good as it got for Rashford in front of England’s newly appointed interim head coach Lee Carsley, who was at Wembley to see the forward miss a Community Shield sitter.
Rashford’s big moment arrived in the 75th minute after substitute Alejandro Garnacho raced clear of the Manchester City defence and put the ball on a plate for his team-mate.
Ederson dived to cover the goal well, but Rashford should have done much better than to strike the outside of the post with his left-foot shot. Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was on the United bench as part of Erik ten Hag’s staff, used to tuck those away with his eyes shut.
Another big chance fades away for Man Utd as Marcus Rashford cannot find the back of the net 🫣#ITVFootball | #CommunityShield pic.twitter.com/rZRZ77pfhS
The miss was right in front of the United end, presumably minus the cheeky youngster who had been led away, and will have left supporters wondering what to expect from Rashford this season.
This is arguably the most important campaign of Rashford’s career so far, following a season in which he scored only eight goals for United and lost his England place.
Having failed to even make the provisional squad for the European Championship, let alone the final travelling squad that reached the final in Germany, Rashford had a full summer off to rest and recuperate.
He was also given an immediate opportunity in his favoured position off the left against City, as Ten Hag resisted the temptation to start him through the middle with Rasmus Hojlund unavailable and summer signing Joshua Zirkzee left on the substitutes’ bench.
Instead, Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes were asked to play as split false nines to allow Rashford to play off the left but he could not grab his chance.
While Mount can blame his lacklustre performance on being played out of position, Rashford has no such excuse.
The second-half sitter was not the only chance that fell to Rashford. In the first half, he had the perfect angle to aim for the far corner from inside the penalty area. But Rashford did not get the required curl on a shot that lacked conviction, and the ball bounced wastefully wide of Ederson’s left-hand post.
There had perhaps been an early sign that Rashford was going to suffer a frustrating afternoon, as, in just the eighth minute, he controlled the ball straight out of play.
He ran down a blind alley on the left just after the half-time break, and the 26-year-old still looked short of confidence before eventually being replaced by Jadon Sancho.
Sancho missed from the spot as United lost the penalty shoot-out and Rashford could be forgiven if he had been relieved not to have been on the pitch at that point.
At least Rashford had been involved during his 82 minutes on the pitch and there could be no accusations of him not trying hard enough, which he faced on more than one occasion last term – sometimes unfairly.
Of course, the Community Shield is a glorified pre-season friendly and these games are chiefly designed for players to fine-tune their fitness and sharpness.
Nobody will remember a bad day at Wembley in early August if Rashord can find anything approaching his best form, when United’s season-proper starts on Friday night against Fulham.
He scored 30 goals the season before last and an argument could certainly be made that England missed an in-form Rashford during a Euros in which they sometimes laboured their way to the final.
But there would have been little for Carsley to get excited about over Rashford, as he starts thinking about picking his first senior England squad for the Nations League games against Republic of Ireland and Finland in September.
Other than the lad who got a cuddle, Rashford has still got some convincing to do before Ten Hag and United’s supporters can start to count on him again.