McClaren takes a swipe at Marcus Rashford ahead of Man United return

Marcus Rashford’s attitude has been criticized by Manchester United assistant manager Steve McClaren ahead of his return to the dugout at Old Trafford.

McClaren will join the coaching staff of new manager Erik ten Hag, who is looking to turn the club’s fortunes around after a disastrous 21/22 season.

United are preparing for preseason, which begins on June 27. Players who did not participate in this month’s international fixtures will report back to the club’s training facility in Carrington.

Rashford will be one of them after England manager Gareth Southgate overlooked him for the recent Nations League games. The 24-year-old had a difficult season in 21/22 and will be hoping that a fresh start will help him rediscover his best form.

McClaren will be keeping a close eye on Rashford after questioning the Englishman’s attitude following United’s narrow 1-0 FA Cup third-round win over Aston Villa in January.

“I hate that attitude in a player,” he said to talkSPORT.

“Body language is so, so important and that was the criticism of United players in the last few weeks, but Rashford has probably had this problem throughout his career in terms of questioning his attitude.”

The former England manager added: “He gets deterred too easily and doesn’t fight through bad moments. He doesn’t stay in the game. If he’s not having a good game, he’s not having a good game.”

“If he’s not having a good first half, he’ll never have a good second half. I just look at him and think that boy needs help, off the field and through the manager.”

Rashford appeared to be out of sorts during a season in which he only managed five goals in 32 appearances across all competitions.

Rashford, according to McClaren, needed to accept his attitude issues before seeking help off the field.

He said: “The help is there in modern football. He (Southgate) has brought in a sports psychologist. He (Rashford) has got the talent and the ability.”

“There’s that one cornerstone which we call mentality, attitude, which he hasn’t grasped yet. There are certain tools with which you can come out of bad times, so you play one bad pass and don’t make it two or three.”

“You get back to playing simple again. He’s brought in a sports psychologist, but a player needs to admit first that he’s in the wrong, has a bad attitude and needs help.”

With the World Cup starting later this year in Qatar, Rashford will have to convince a lot of people that he deserves to be in England’s squad.