Marcus Rashford: Manchester United stars form will turn around
We need to talk about Marcus Rashford once again.
- Published prior to Manchester United's 3-0 win over Everton
After finishing last season with 30 goals in all competitions, it was expected that Marcus Rashford would kick on and continue to remain on the upward trajectory that he was on.
That hasn't happened, however, with things moving completely in the opposite direction.
The 26-year-old has scored just twice for club and country since the start of this season, but manager Erik ten Hag has backed him to bounce back.
"I know when the team is playing better, he will play better, he will score goals. I am confident of that," said Ten Hag.
The decline has been stark for Rashford but he has plenty of time to turn it around for himself.
What's gone wrong?
Rashford's dip in form has not been independent of Manchester United's own regression this season. After four wins in their last five, the Red Devils find themselves sixth in the league standings, they were as low as 13th after game week five.
Arresting the slide hasn't been easy for Ten Hag. He's had an injury-riddled squad, with players coming in and out of the starting XI, which has made it difficult to establish patterns of play and give the team a real identity. Rashford has been a constant despite the dip in his own performances.
The England international has had a non-penalty expected goal (npxG) total of 3.9 from around 10 games in the league, a better figure than anyone else amongst the United ranks.
Breaking that into per90 gives us an average of just 0.38, a drop from the 0.48 per90 that Rashford finished last season with. The output has been suboptimal from a player who has been asked to deliver the goals in a less-than-ideal situation for the club on the pitch.
He's a shoot on sight player, highlighted by the fact he has attempted the second most shots in the league (36) behind only Erling Haaland - an average of 3.5 per 90 minutes.
But, the finishing touch been lacking, a -2.9 underperformance on his npxG underlines that. Furthermore, an npxG per shot of just 0.11 is far from the ideal figure you want your strikers to be close to.
Rashford's shot-map in the league this season illustrates just how he's struggled to attack the right spaces but also, how United have found it difficult to manufacture the kind of scenarios where he thrived last season.
He's missed six big chances so far, and while it is natural for top forwards to miss a lot of big chances, a shot conversion rate of 2.7% is concerning to say the least.
Reason to be optimistic
As the Christmas period draws closer, Ten Hag has reason to be positive with important starters returning from injury, including left-back Luke Shaw.
Rashford's best performances last season came alongside Shaw on the left, with his overlapping runs allowing Rashford to focus on the 1v1 duels and attacking the box.
Shaw's natural adventurous nature will not only benefit Rashford, but also Rasmus Hojlund whose only source of quality supply so far has been Bruno Fernandes.
The duo's chemistry on the left has worked to great effect in the past and the expectation is that they will find a rhythm together once again.
So far this season, there's been a lot of chopping and changing on the left side, with Rashford even being moved to the right to facilitate Alejandro Garnacho's inclusion.
United's next five games are a mixed bag of fixtures, with Everton in the league followed by a trip to Turkiye to face Galatasaray in a must-win game for their Champions League qualification hopes.
Newcastle, Chelsea and Bournemouth follow in the league, meaning there is no better time like the present for Rashford to rediscover his midas touch.
Dropping him from the starting XI is not the solution to fix the issues he's facing. As the team gets healthier and starts to find a groove, so will Rashford.
The goals will eventually come.
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