“There’s only one way out of this run” – Watch Marcus Rashford sends powerful message to fans as he reveals the only way Man United could return to winning ways ahead of Burnley game

“There’s only one way out of this run” – Watch Marcus Rashford sends powerful message to fans as he reveals the only way Man United could return to winning ways ahead of Burnley game

Marcus Rashford has been speaking at length about Manchester United’s difficult start to the 2023/24 season, ahead of the team’s sixth Premier League fixture – away to Burnley tonight.

The Reds have lost three of the preceding five – against Tottenham and Arsenal in North London, and at home to Brighton last weekend – while Wednesday’s 4-3 reverse to Bayern Munich in our Champions League opener was the team’s third consecutive defeat in all competitions.

With eight seasons in United’s senior team already under his belt, Rashford has experienced some rough spells in the past and is therefore well placed to assess how the current players can turn the recent form around.

In an interview with Premier League Productions you can watch and read below, our no.10 points to an example from 12 months ago when Erik ten Hag’s men needed the kickstart of a hard-fought win over Liverpool to put early-season slip-ups to Brighton (again) and Bournemouth behind them.

From there, the Reds rarely looked back en route to finishing in the top four and winning the club’s first silverware since 2017, the Carabao Cup.

Marcus’s words below make for an intriguing read as we look forward to chasing what could be a similarly galvanising win at Turf Moor tonight…

Marcus, first of all, an open question to start with. What’s the start to this season been like?

“I think it’s definitely not been the start that we would have hoped for in pre-season.

“I think that’s clear for everyone. We know football is a results-based sport and it always has been.

“So, we need to get the results in and I’m pretty sure that with the squad that we have, with the staff behind us, once we do get that first hard-fought result, we’ll kick on. It’s not the first time I’ve been in this situation.

“We were in this situation this time last year, then we had that game against Liverpool [and from then] I don’t think we lost at home [in the Premier League] until the Brighton game just gone.

“So we know what that [next] win can do for us as a team and then it’s up to the players to show consistency and you know, that’s the bit that you can say we’ve lacked. In terms of last year, we were very consistent at home, so inconsistent away from home. But we need to find a good balance.”

What do you think has been wrong?
“For me, you have to just look at the simple things first. We’re not scoring as many goals and we’re conceding more goals.

“If we try to bring those two lines closer together, and try to be a bit more compact, and help the man out to your left or to your right, then yeah, it might mean less chances for the forwards than we’re used to from the games last season.

“But if we’re defensively solid, I believe that we can score against any team in the world.”

You touched on it before, but incredibly, it’s your ninth season as a first-team footballer at Manchester United, which at the age of 25 is remarkable. But you have been here before. You’ve been here before when results haven’t been right and you’ve come out the other side of it. How do you lead the group through this now, in your role as a leader as well?

“Yeah, I think the first thing is that I don’t care what role you have to play in the squad or what your role is in the management, when Man United are losing games , it’s a difficult place to be. And from periods when we’ve been in this situation before, there’s only one way out.

“Each individual has to look at themselves in a mirror and say that they’ll give everything for the badge. You know you’ve got the ability otherwise you wouldn’t be here. So we need to tighten up a few things in our defensive organisation, right from the front all the way to the back and just play the game.

“Each game requires slightly different things and at the minute I feel at times we’re expecting the type of game to be this type of way. And when it’s not, we’re struggling in adjustment.

“And that’s why I feel like teams when they score one, they end up scoring two straight after and we’re still taking too long to adjust to what the game needs. But like I said, one good result, one good performance, can turn it around at this club.

“And I’m doing everything I can to try and make sure that everyone’s not too down. Like I said, I know it’s a difficult position and I’m not as happy as I want to be, but there’s only one way to get that happiness back and it’s to go out and get results.”

It sounds like, in a way, you expect the reaction because like we’ve said, you’ve been through this sort of period before. But with the reaction this week to the Bayern Munich result, and the widespread criticism and scrutiny there has been, what’s that actually like, to be in the middle of all of that?
“I don’t really know. I don’t read it because… li