Marcus Rashford Receives Backlash After 'Awful' Performance In Manchester United's 1-0 Win

Former England defender Michael Gray has slammed Marcus Rashford, calling his body language "shocking" and performance "awful" after Manchester United's 1-0 win over Aston Villa in FA Cup.

Though Manchester United won their round three in FA Cup, Gray has criticized Rashford for having an "awful" performance, even calling it "as bad as I've seen."

"Marcus Rashford, I'm sorry, waving your arms around, I'm sorry mate, but if you keep giving the ball away like that then it's only a matter of time before you're off this football field. It's happened too many times this season. His body language is absolutely shocking at the moment, not just from him, but from a lot of these Manchester United players. Their performance in this second half has been absolutely awful," Gray, who rose through the youth ranks at Old Trafford, told talkSport in an interview.

On one occasion during the FA Cup clash with Aston Villa, it could be seen that Rashford was not ready for a rebound, particularly when Mason Greenwood's shot was parried by Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, resulting in more backlash for the English forward.

"I cannot believe what I've just seen. We've just seen another replay of it now. Marcus Rashford turns his body away from the Aston Villa goal before Martinez has actually picked the ball up. Okay, he was probably waiting for the pass from Mason Greenwood, who's done fantastic, but I'm not having that from a player, turning your back before the goalkeeper's picked the ball up," Gray added in the same interview.

In 15 competitive appearances for the Red Devils in the 2021-22 campaign, Rashford has managed to be involved in four goals of his side [assist -1 and goals - 3], according to Transfermarkt.

"He is not running around – that is as bad as I've seen. What he's just done there is terrible. You do not do that on a football pitch. Turn your back? Please," Gray, who moved from Man Utd to Sunderland's academy at the beginning of his career, said further.

Meanwhile, soccer commentator Sam Matterface also emphasized Rashford's poor show Monday.

"What is it? Because there's something, he looks like he's given up. I'm looking at him and I feel sorry for him because he looks to me as if he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and he's struggling mentally," Matterface said, as per talkSport.