Youri Tielemans has offered a pointed defence of Marcus Rashford, challenging the doubts that had followed the Manchester United forward before his meeting with Ruben Amorim.<\/p>\n
Rashford had been criticised for what was portrayed as a lack of full commitment away from matches, with Amorim previously claiming: \u201cThe reason is the training,\u201d Amorim explained, \u201cthe way I see what a footballer should do. In training, in life and it\u2019s every day, every detail.\u201d<\/p>\n
But after Rashford joined Aston Villa on loan at the start of 2025 in search of more first-team football, Tielemans saw something very different up close. Speaking to Rio Ferdinand on his self-titled YouTube show, the Belgium international said the outside perception did not match the player he encountered in Birmingham.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was such a big thing made out of him that he wasn\u2019t committed or wasn\u2019t in it for the right reasons or whatever. And you see the player coming in and it\u2019s completely opposite from what you hear,\u201d Tielemans told Rio Ferdinand on his self-titled YouTube show.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was committed. He was doing the work. He was positive with everyone. You know, he was just a normal guy, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tielemans also highlighted Rashford\u2019s quality on the pitch, before stressing that support from the players around him would be crucial if he is to settle again at Manchester United.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got amazing qualities,\u201d United\u2019s marquee signing of the summer added. \u201cAnd I mean, his touch, his acceleration, his finishing, you know, his qualities on the ball. But then I think what surprised me most with him was his commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he needs us,\u201d the former Villa midfielder admitted. \u201cThat\u2019s it. I think he just needs support behind him. And he would always create something.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s something that, as a player, you want in your team. You want that type of player in your team that can create at any moment. He can dribble past one, two, three players and then lay off for someone that can score. So to have him fit and ready to go with us would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Carrick, meanwhile, has taken a far more positive line than his predecessor. \u201cHe\u2019s our player. He\u2019s come back great, like any other player. I\u2019ve known him a long time, he gives us something a bit different,\u201d Carrick gushed earlier this week .<\/p>\n
Rashford, after his extended break following England\u2019s run to third place at this summer\u2019s World Cup, missed United\u2019s friendly with Leeds in Dublin from the stands. He has since joined the travelling squad for Saturday\u2019s match against Milan and, more importantly for the winger, Amorim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tielemans defended Rashford\u2019s commitment as the winger prepared to meet Ruben Amorim once more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[711,1083,179],"tags":[178,180,182],"class_list":["post-18496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aston-villa","category-man-utd","category-manchester-united","tag-friendly","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}