Marcus Rashford\u2019s return to Manchester United was always going to be judged in difficult circumstances, but the early evidence of his second spell has been muted. Multiple reports have pointed to a secret injury as a key reason the winger has struggled to find rhythm.<\/p>\n
There was no grand unveiling when the academy graduate came back to his boyhood club. By the time he made his low-key second debut at Old Trafford against Ipswich Town, the backdrop was already shaped by his failed attempt to complete the permanent move to Barcelona he had openly wanted.<\/p>\n
Since then, the numbers have not helped his case. Rashford is still without a goal or assist for United this season, and that victory over Ipswich remains the only match he has featured in and won. Michael Carrick did not use him at all in United\u2019s search for a winner at Elland Road on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The wider picture is important, though. Rashford has been dealing with a hip injury since the World Cup, according to Sky News, and continues to receive daily treatment. The problem forced him to withdraw from the autumn internationals, and since those fixtures he has managed only a single minute of Premier League football.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had the slight injury where he had to pull out of England, and we\u2019ve managed that a little bit,\u201d Carrick said.<\/p>\n
For a player whose game depends so heavily on pace and power, even a minor physical setback can have an effect that extends beyond the body. Rashford\u2019s direct style remains one of his strongest qualities, but his output has suffered, and his underlying numbers in front of goal are down on his prolific season at Barcelona.<\/p>\n
Even so, the issue is not his alone. United\u2019s attack has also lacked consistency around him. Bryan Mbeumo is the only player to score in more than one Premier League match so far, while Amad Diallo is still waiting for his first meaningful impact. Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko has been hindered by injury, Matheus Cunha has dropped to the bench, and Bruno Fernandes has not produced at the level United need from him.<\/p>\n
Rashford has taken 17 shots in all competitions with an xG of 1.92, a return that would usually have brought goals. Only three Premier League players have had more attempts without scoring. Carrick still sees enough to remain patient.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus has done a lot of good things,\u201d Carrick said. \u201cHe\u2019s doing some good things, and it\u2019s not quite getting that break, putting himself in good positions and having some good opportunities,\u201d Carrick insisted. \u201cHe had the one the other night where maybe he\u2019d feel he could have done better with. He\u2019s in there to make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you keep doing the right things, you get the rewards in the end. As long as he keeps doing that, he\u2019ll be O.K.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rashford\u2019s United return has been held back by injury, rust and an attack lacking rhythm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[1836,242,180],"class_list":["post-21836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-injury","tag-player-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21836","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=21836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}