In an attempt to revive his once-promising career, Marcus Rashford has moved to Barcelona on a season-long loan this summer – and Gary Lineker’s comments on the British media’s treatment of the Englishman have caused a big stir.
A Carrington graduate, the winger has been one of the shining lights of a dim post-Sir Alex Ferguson, but his time at Manchester United has seemingly come to an unfortunate end after being included in Ruben Amorim’s five-man ‘bomb squad’.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Marcus Rashford, just 11 days before turning 26 years old, became the youngest Man Utd player to reach 250 appearances in the Premier League in 2023.
Rashford playing under Hansi Flick, rather than Amorim, is already one of the upcoming season’s most fascinating talking points – and he recently sat down with Lineker and Micah Richards to talk about all things football, including what it’s like to face such heavy criticism.
Lineker’s Comments Regarding Rashford Criticism
Throughout his time in the Premier League with his boyhood club, Rashford – born and raised in Wythenshawe, Manchester – came under mass scrutiny when things weren’t too rosy on the pitch. It’s natural that every player goes through patches of bad form, but fans – and the British media – would often find a way to bash his non-football endeavours, which included him campaigning to support vulnerable children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rashford, who enjoyed one of the best debuts in Premier League history, recently spoke to Lineker and Micah Richards about his career to date on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast. Lineker insisted that the forward was judged unfairly for his goals – or lack thereof – during a poor run of form. He said:
“I think, sometimes, you get unfairly criticised because of who you are and what you’ve done, not necessarily on the pitch. You know I’m a massive supporter of what you did – I think, pretty much everyone is. It’s incredible what you did, you shifted government policies, and it was remarkable. Always, my fear was that the minute you had a bad spell, they’d blame that.”
Lineker – commonly admired as one of England’s greatest ever strikers – then claimed that, in his eyes, the British media’s comments on Rashford over the years has been racially motivated, adding that he ‘wouldn’t face the same criticism if he was a white player’.
“Obviously, I’m saying this because I feel it, but I think, sometimes, the criticism – you might go on a night out, you might go out in a certain outfit, and you’d get criticised – I don’t think that would get criticised if that was a white player.”
Watch Rashford’s interview in full below:
Fans, in response to the striker-turned-television personality’s comments, are under the same belief as him. “He gets it! I’ll always rep for Lineker,” one said as another added: “Fair, Gary might be the only bloke in English media that actually talks sense.”
“Gary Lineker remains (for me) the most reasonable, enlightened and well spoken amongst these crops of broadcaster. Highly intelligent too.”
In agreement, a third fan called Lineker an ‘absolute legend’ for slamming how the British media have treated Rashford over the years. They wrote: “Gary Lineker is the realist I’ve seen or heard… and I love it. Absolute legend.” before another said: “This is why the people love Gary… just unfiltered and unbiased.
