Premier League legend Alan Shearer has fired back at Marcus Rashford’s claims that he is being bullied by pundits. A spokesperson for the Manchester United winger said ahead of the Red Devils 3-0 victory over Southampton that the 26-year-old is treated differently by ex-professionals and described the abuse he faced as an ‘onslaught.’
Rashford was able to silence his critics with a wonderful goal against the Saints while putting in one of his best performances of the calendar year. However, Shearer has since come out and played down any suggestions that the criticism of the forward has been unfair and gave him a solution to fix his current predicament.
Speaking on the latest edition of The Rest is Football podcast alongside Gary Lineker and Micah Richards, Shearer discussed Rashford’s claims and stood by his previous comments made against the England international. As per talkSPORT, the Newcastle legend stated:
“I wouldn’t change anything that I’ve said. He’s set his own very high standards, you know? He’s a very good player – he’s on a huge contract at Manchester United and he hasn’t played as well as he can do or has done in the past.
“And when that is the case – at a big football club when you’re a big name – you’re going to get criticised.And he did – but he doesn’t get criticised for performances like yesterday, you know? When he’s tracking back and running, and taking players on and scoring his goal. He looked a really good player yesterday.”
Shearer would then go on to explain that Rashford has to continue that level of performance consistently in order to avoid criticism, saying that the player has “got to do that for the rest of the season.”
“There was a reason I said it last night. There’s a reason why he wasn’t in the England squad. It’s not just the pundits who were critical of him. Other players have overtaken him from where he was a couple of years ago and there’s no doubt that there’s the talent in there, but that has to be a regular.
“That has to be every single week, and not just against Southampton as it was. And then he won’t get criticised.”
Ahead of last Saturday’s early kick-off, quotes from Rashford’s camp emerged saying that the player had been on the receiving end of unfair treatment from the media. The representative was quoted as saying:
“The criticism coming his way is an onslaught. It is bullying. Supporters believe what senior ex-players say, which only makes worse. The club have spent £100m on central strikers and Marcus is back out wide, as a facilitator. And he is doing his job in that regard. It isn’t his fault the chances aren’t being put away.”
The suggestion that the winger had been creating good chances was backed up by his manager, Erik ten Hag, who claimed the player created two goalscoring opportunities in the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool prior to the international break.