Marcus Rashford says he has been abused for months and that “enough is enough”.
The Manchester United and England forward has endured a difficult season on and off the pitch.
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He has failed to replicate his sparkling form of last season when he scored 30 goals, managing just eight for United across all competitions, while a well-publicised trip to Northern Ireland in January which saw him photographed in a Belfast nightclub in the early hours, led to a hefty fine.
His below-par displays have led to a wave of criticism, particularly on social media, and Rashford has hinted he is tired of it.
Responding to a tweet that read: “The way Marcus Rashford is being treated is absolutely disgusting. It’s cruel. It’s abuse,”, the 26-year-old wrote: “I appreciate your support! It is abuse and has been for months. Enough is enough.”
I appreciate your support! It is abuse and has been for months. Enough is enough HTTPS://T.CO/MUFIU0JWEB
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) APRIL 25, 2024
Many fans laid the blame for the criticism at the door of YouTuber, and supposed Manchester United fan, Mark Goldbridge.
Long-time critic Goldbridge, who runs the channel The United Stand, described Rashford as “as useful as a wheelie bin with no wheels” following the penalty shoot-out win over Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend.
In a series of tweets this morning, Goldbridge wrote: “Player FC back out in force this morning again defending a massively underperforming player over the club…we’ll never progress without standards.
Player FC back out in force again defending a massively under performing player over the club….we’ll never progress without standards
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) APRIL 26, 2024
“I very much doubt that’s the player tweeting at half past midnight the night before training as well. All players have diet and sleep plans and being up that late won’t be part of it. Especially injured.”
Goldbridge’s outspoken criticism of United has previously drawn the ire of the club’s former full-back Paul Parker, who told BonusCodeBets: “I don’t like what Mark Goldbridge is doing. It’s a problem.
“Everyone has to make a living but you have to be very, very thick-skinned to make money off the back of something you don’t like. He has no relationship to Man United, he is a Nottingham Forest fan.
“He has no inner feeling with the club and it’s a scary but incredible feeling to have to be that invested in a club that you don’t support. But that’s also what Man United are about. It’s a club with a massive story and it’s a story that everyone tries to tap into and be a part of.
“A lot of people are making money because of Man United but it’s madness. One, they don’t support Man United and to be honest, two, they don’t even like football. But it’s a club that everyone wants to talk about and somehow it’s possible to make money from it despite not having a relationship to the club.”
