Rio Ferdinand managed to find relief amongst the Manchester United mess in Marcus Rashford’s rapport with a couple of his club colleagues.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand unearthed a sliver of positivity regarding Rashford buried beneath the burning rumble the Red Devils found themselves surrounded by.
Arguably the only upside to United’s heavily criticised 4-2 defeat to Leicester City last Saturday was the return of their no.10.
The England international made his first appearance of the season following shoulder surgery on the weekend away to the Foxes.
After less than 20 minutes walking the King Power turf, the forward found the back of the net to equaliser for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Rashford’s resurrection was short-lived, as Leicester converted twice late on to seal the tie in their favour.
Marcus a man of the people
Solskjaer simply cannot afford to dwell on that dire result, but at least he can be grateful for the return of his goalscoring substitute.
Plus, the 23-year-old will also be able to reignite the connections he built up before being side-lined, a sense of unity United have seriously lacked.
“Luke Shaw and Rashford. Bruno (Fernandes) and Rashford. They’ve got that connectivity,” admitted Ferdinand.
“But I don’t see it enough all over the park.”
Shaw and Rashford certainly struck up a strong bond prior to the latter’s absence.
Often deployed together on the left, the two compatriots provided pace and precision, as well as the ability to cover one another.
Fernandes meanwhile seems to have solid attachments throughout the squad, such is the midfielder’s quality.
United untied
However, with Rashford missing for so long, Solskjaer’s team lost any true partnerships they once possessed.
“Those relationships enable you to fall back and be able to go ‘do you know what, we can be resilient because I can rely on you and I know where you’re going to be’,” continued Ferdinand.
“At the moment, I think if a player closes his eyes and then said to him five seconds later open your eyes where would your teammates be, I don’t think they’d have a good idea of where everyone would be on the pitch.”
A brutally honest assessment, yet one that really cannot be argued against.
United look like a group of talented individuals, all trying to serve their own purpose.
Or worse, a group of talented individuals unsure of their own purpose.
This comes back to the manager’s tactical approach, which – right now – is under major scrutiny.
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