Former England striker Ian Wright has jumped to the defence of Marcus Rashford, after the Manchester United forward backtracked on confronting a supporter following the Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid.
With the 24-year-old forward out of form and favour of late, he was unable to produce anything of note off the bench as United exited the European competition at the last-16 stage.
Leaving the stadium later on, several supporters then berated Rashford and his teammates for poor performances, leading the United attacker to respond aggressively before apologising that “emotion got the better of me” and acknowledging he should have let the situation pass.
Wright doesn’t agree, though, and says Rashford should stand his ground and let it be known that he won’t take constant abuse without replying in kind to spectators.
“I’ve just got to address something I saw. Someone just sent me the Marcus Rashford video where he confronted the fans because the fans were digging him out and he offered one of them out,” Wright said in a video he posted on Twitter.
“I don’t know who’s doing it man, who’s doing this apologising for them. What the f*** is he apologising for that for?
“These people [are] quick to [say]: ‘Oh I’m so sorry’. That’s what gives these fans that fuel to think they can just dig people out.
“Marcus, stand your ground bro. You’ve got these people jumping on, ‘oh Marcus is so sorry’ - don’t be f****ng sorry for that bro. Some of them fans love giving it, they can’t take it man.
“You just do your stuff, get back to where you need to be bro where you’re playing. F*** them fans bro.”
Rashford has struggled for game time this season under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, scoring only five times across all competitions and playing only just over 900 minutes in the top flight so far.
While he had a shoulder injury at the start of the campaign which kept him out, he has had to watch as Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga have become the first-choice wide options for the interim boss, with Rashford starting just three league matches in 2022.
The Independent reported he is considering his options ahead of the summer, with just 12 months left on his contract at Old Trafford at the end of this term.
