Stuart Pearce has slammed Marcus Rashford following his performance during England’s win over Scotland, claiming the Manchester United forward looked ‘uninterested’ at times.
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The 25-year-old was to the fore in the opening stages as the Three Lions underlined their superiority by racing into a two-goal lead, but was substituted with 20 minutes remaining when the game was back in the balance following Harry Maguire’s own goal.
Rashford began the domestic season indifferently for his club and was accused of behaving like a ‘child’ during a 2-0 defeat at Spurs when he looked ill at ease with the central striking role he had been deployed in by his manager Erik ten Hag.
Having been restored to his favoured left-wing position against Nottingham Forest and Arsenal, Rashford has looked more like his old self in recent weeks but Pearce wants to see the United forward show more consistency, accusing him of drifting in and out of games, as he did last night.
England legend Pearce told talkSPORT: ‘This is where I sort of have a little bit of a frustration with Rashford.
‘I think he can grab hold of the game for 90 minutes and run past people and be like a Henry. You remember Henry in the Premier League, it was like a man against kids on occasion.
‘I just think he fades out the game too regularly and this second half is a point in case for me.’
‘I think he’s got some of the attributes that Henry had,’ Pearce added. When I used to watch Henry, he used to grab the game by the scruff of the neck for 90 minutes and ran you ragged and run past people.
‘Marcus has got the ability to do that, I’d just like to see him do a little bit more regularly, I really would.
‘There was that period in the second half when the game’s gone against us and I’m thinking, ‘You look a little bit uninterested in the game here.’
‘We want you to spark all the time you know, if you possibly can. I know he’s a dynamic athlete and you can’t do it all the time but I always feel as though I want a little bit more from him because he’s such a talent.’
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