“Disappointing…” – Manchester United legend criticises fans for turning on Marcus Rashford

Andy Cole, a key part of Manchester United’s treble-winning side, has admitted he finds it “disappointing” to see fans of the club turning on Marcus Rashford.

With 121 goals in 275 appearances for the Red Devils, Cole’s career at the club took place entirely under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Since his retirement in 2008, Cole has remained close to the team, representing the club as an ambassador. In this role, the Englishman has continued to pay attention to his former club, including Rashford.

Rashford who has surpassed Cole on United’s all-time scoring charts, has struggled over the last fifteen months, breeding a relationship with fans of the club that Cole admitted is like nothing he has ever seen before.

“It’s disappointing,” Cole told BetFred. “With Marcus being a boy from Manchester, and considering how long I’ve been personally involved with the club, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a local player have such a relationship with the fans.

“It’s a little bit surreal because the fans usually get behind one of their own and in general, they get behind the team.

“For them to focus on one individual is a bit disappointing to see and the only way Marcus can get through this situation is by winning the fans back. That’s going to be done via his performances, goals and doing what he did a couple of seasons ago. 

“I’ve said this before, but nobody actually knows what’s going on with him. It could be something so personal that it’s impacting his football. I’m not going to sit here and say it could be X, Y and Z because in football you need to get back to basics and that’s what Marcus has to do.

“We’re only three games into the season and there’s still a hell of a lot of football still to be played yet.”

Despite having yet to score or assist so far this season, only Cole Palmer, Bryan Mbeumo and Mohammed Salah have created more big chances than the Englishman in the Premier League so far this season.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Thursday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.