Granted, it was two weeks ago but that doesn’t excuse the reaction to Manchester United’s teamsheet for their trip to Watford.
With the first international break of the season behind them, United had to do some tinkering for Saturday’s clash with the Hornets, who enjoyed a perfect start to their Premier League campaign going into this weekend’s game.
Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho admitted that Luke Shaw had passed all the medical tests after sustaining a head injury while representing England but the full-back hadn’t worked with United all week so was left out of the matchday 18.
If Shaw’s absence was unsurprising then so too should Marcus Rashford’s because, as most will remember, the United forward is serving a three-match ban for his red card against Burnley a fortnight ago.
Rashford was sent off for a clash with former United defender Phil Bardsley and is facing a short stint on the sidelines as a result.
But that didn’t stop an avalanche of questions about the 20-year-old’s whereabouts in response to the official team announcement.
The #WATMUN team news is in!
There's one change for #MUFC, with @Youngy18 coming in for @LukeShaw23 to face his former club… pic.twitter.com/CYtQJfZZxf
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 15, 2018
Where is Rashford after scoring 2 goals against top international teams?
— Aaron Lentner (@aaronlentner) September 15, 2018
Where’s rashford
— T James (@tallandlazy) September 15, 2018
Rashford ?? where????? Why??? What???
— Frengky giRsang (@Dinata_Franky) September 15, 2018
Where’s rashford
— 13snipes (@13Snipes_) September 15, 2018
Where is Rashford?
— Themba (@SkhosanaThemba) September 15, 2018
No rashford???
— zinedene? (@zinedene14) September 15, 2018
No martial
No Rashford?
What happens if we need a late goal?— Wakoko Wakoko™ (@wakokoLJ) September 15, 2018
Rashford class for England and he’s not even on the bench?
— T._Barrow (@BarrowEthan) September 15, 2018
In his Friday press conference, Mourinho joked that he he would be “criticised for not playing Rashford” at Vicarage Road despite the fact that the forward was obviously ineligible.
Mourinho also defended his utilisation of Rashford amid criticism from some in the media.
“Marcus Rashford is not Dominic Solanke. He’s not Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He’s not Dominic Calvert-Lewin,” Mourinho said.
“He’s Marcus Rashford, Manchester United player, with an incredible number of appearances and an incredible number of minutes played at the highest level in the best possible competitions.”
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