England defeated Wales 3-0 and Latvia 4-0 during the international break, but they did so without using any current Manchester United players in their squad.
As difficult as the Red Devils are currently going through, the days when they had some of the best players in the country like Wayne Rooney and Sir Bobby Charlton are long gone.
Rooney is, of course, a club legend at United, as per the stats in the graph above, and also a legend in England, being the country’s all-time leading scorer with 53 goals until Harry Kane erased that record, and currently stands at 76.
However, with Marcus Rashford coming off the bench against Wales and Latvia, the Man United attacker was technically on the pitch for both of England’s matches during the break.
The left-winger, currently on loan at Barcelona, is a favorite of manager Thomas Tuchel and is competing with Anthony Gordon for a starting place at next year’s World Cup.
Many fans may still be wondering what exactly went wrong with Rashford at Old Trafford, as he is still good enough to play for Barcelona and England.
Why Marcus Rashford won’t play for Man United
Aside from the obvious reason that he is currently out on loan, Rashford is not playing for Manchester United because of a rift in his relationship with Ruben Amorim.
Upon his move to Barcelona in the summer, the BBC’s Simon Stone wrote that there was “no chance of putting an arm around Ruben Amorim”‘s shoulders to bring him back to the Old Trafford squad.
It happened a few months after some very convincing words from the Portuguese coach. “What I’m saying is that I couldn’t have asked Marcus to see how to play football and train him the way I think he should,” Amorim said shortly after Rashford left United on loan to Aston Villa in January.
In December, ahead of his first loan move, Sky Sports wrote that Amorim was “unimpressed with Rashford’s application on the training ground and his overall demeanor”.
When you put all this information together, it looks like Rashford and Amorim have reached a point of no return, but it’s not because of the quality of the forwards.
25/26 season (all games) | marcus rashford |
|---|---|
Appearance | 10 |
xG | 1.81 |
the goal | 3 |
key pass | 18 |
A big opportunity has arisen | 3 |
assist | 4 |
Dribbling completed | 12 |
Statistics by Sofascore | |
As you can see from the table above, the England international has scored seven goals in 10 games for Barcelona since joining the Spanish giants in the summer.
According to Transfermarkt, Rashford, who scored an incredible goal in the Champions League against Newcastle United, has the qualities to excel from the left wing to the centre, as evidenced by his 138 goals for United.
However, his approach to training and matches was clearly not good enough for what Amorim wanted from his players, which is why he was loaned out for the second time in 2025.
The Red Devils may now be wary of signing a player in his position who could potentially follow in his footsteps, for better or for worse.
INEOS paid a £62.5m fee to sign attacking midfielder Matheus Cunha from fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers to Manchester United this summer.
Why Mateus Cunha could become the next Marcus Rashford
There is no doubt that the Brazil international is an incredibly talented attacker and has the potential to create magical moments in front of the Old Trafford crowd.
According to Sofascore, Cunha has scored 31 goals and provided 14 assists in all competitions for Wolves in 2023/24 and 2024/25, proving he is both a scorer and a creator in English football.
The Brazilian star, who journalist Samuel Luckhurst claimed had a “maverick arrogance” about him, scored 15 goals and created 13 “big chances” for Wolves in the Premier League last season, according to Sofascore.
However, like Rashford, Cunha’s temperament has sometimes been questioned. For example, after losing 3-1 to Chelsea in January, he seemed unable to express his gratitude to supporters.
Coach Vitor Pereira said of the situation: “I don’t like this body language. As a captain, I want someone who tries to help the team by running, suffering and fighting together. But this is something I understand. Next time I won’t understand.”
Pundit Clinton Morrison also claimed that he missed six games last season due to suspension due to a “lack of professionalism”, including one for an incident involving an Ipswich staff member and another for a match with Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkes.
There is nothing to suggest that his attitude, professionalism or application have been an issue for him so far at Manchester United, but his form on the pitch is a concern.
25/26 Premier League | Matheus Cunha |
|---|---|
Appearance | 6 |
begins | 4 |
xG | 1.31 |
the goal | 0 |
Key paths per game | 0.7 |
A big opportunity has arisen | 0 |
assist | 0 |
Statistics by Sofascore | |
As you can see from the table above, Cunha has failed to produce results for the Red Devils in the Premier League so far this season, appearing in six games with no goals, no “big chances” created, and no assists.
His performances at Wolves suggest goals and assists will eventually flow to the Brazil international, but the fear is that he could potentially follow in Rashford’s footsteps if his performances do not improve.
According to Transfermarkt, the England international returned for just 11 goals in his last 48 Premier League games for the club as his on-pitch performances failed to make up for his application problems, ultimately leading to his move from Old Trafford, albeit on loan.
INEOS and Amorim hope that if Cunha’s performances in front of goal do not improve in the coming weeks, the question marks over his professionalism and application from his time at Wolves do not carry over into his time at Manchester.
Cunha could potentially look to Rashford as an example of what not to do, and could knuckle down and improve his form, hopefully without any of the baggage the English forward brought with him under Amorim.
