In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Marcus Rashford’s off-field problems, Fulham signing Armando Broja from Chelsea on Deadline Day and a look ahead to this weekend’s Premier League blockbuster between Arsenal and Liverpool.
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How Marcus Rashford can revive struggling career…
I saw the photos and videos of Marcus Rashford in the Belfast-based nightclub and I found them quite hard to look at — they were quite harrowing pictures because he looked blank behind the eyes — like he was in a really bad place, and I know exactly how that feels. He didn’t look like a guy who wanted to be in a nightclub and out drinking with his mates. He looked lost, shy and really empty.
I remember being out one night during my playing days and having a nightclub owner come up to me and ask why I was looking so down when, according to him, I ‘had it all’. The reality was, I was, unbeknown at the time, suffering from clinical depression. I’m not suggesting Rashford is experiencing the same, but I know his body language while in that club was a red flag and something that echoed my own behaviour all those years ago.
I hope the way Manchester United have handled the situation has helped him — it certainly appears to considering how he took his goal against Wolves last night but I think a lot of Rashford’s problems have stemmed from the pressure put on him to be a national hero. The free school meal program he launched during COVID was a great scheme and a lot of good came from it, but it feels like his off-field efforts have taken control of him, leaving his football secondary, and, at the end of the day, as a professional footballer, and being Manchester United’s top earner, you will always be judged first and foremost on your playing performances, and unfortunately for him, they’ve not been anywhere near good enough.
There are also huge question marks over his representation. I am not a big fan of family members, especially siblings, taking care of and overseeing a player’s career. I wonder how differently Rashford’s career would look now if he had been represented by Jorge Mendes or signed with a leading agency like CAA Stellar, for example.
The very best thing for Rashford to do now is to distance his working life from his family, sign with an agent who knows exactly how to manage and care for a player of his stature and then look to move clubs. Manchester United have been great to him, there is no doubt about that — Rashford would not have experienced anything like the success he has had if it weren’t for United and their academy so he should always be grateful to the club. However, having been there his entire life and literally knowing no different, now, at the age of 26, it might be the right time for him to move on and experience a new challenge and change of scenery.
In terms of what club he should go and play for, I know there has been a lot of chatter about Arsenal, and they may well be the ideal fit for him, but for me, it’s really simple — Rashford needs to be at a club where the manager is stable and not going anywhere anytime soon. He needs a manager, who has a lot of control at a club, spends some quality time with him and get inside his head to figure out exactly how to get the best out of him. If he can find that in Mikel Arteta, so be it but I actually think Ange Postecoglou would do wonders for him. Postecoglou would say to Rashford ‘mate, there’s no pressure, just go out and attack like you did when you were a kid’. He would take the weight of the world off his shoulders and probably help him rediscover his love for the game. Let’s be honest as well, I know fans are quick to take the mick but Spurs are a massive club, and there’s no doubt about it, they are heading in the right direction again.
So come on then, Rashford to Spurs, who says no?
Fulham have pulled off transfer masterstroke…
I think securing Armando Broja on loan until the end of the season is a really good move for Fulham. I really like him — I’ve seen him play live a few times and he is a decent striker. He was held back a little bit after suffering that really bad injury but he’s still young. He’s 22 years old so he has plenty of time to fulfil his potential, and obviously sitting on Chelsea’s bench wasn’t going to do that, so to see him finally in line to get regular minutes is a really positive sign.
He’s a player who has outrageous pace, so his presence up front will help Fulham hit teams on the counter-attack. I think this one will turn out to be a really shrewd move from Marco Silva.
From what I have seen of Fulham, they have absolutely no problems creating chances and breaking sides down, but they’ve struggled with putting the ball in the back of the net but Broja is a player capable of doing that week-in-week-out, so I am expecting good things from him in the second half the season.
Arsenal vs. Liverpool prediction…
This one should be a cracker. There are always goals when these two play each other. There hasn’t been a 0-0 draw between these two teams since 2015 so I am expecting a lively encounter at the Emirates.
I fancy both teams to go all-out attack from the opening minute. Liverpool’s first hurdle to overcome will be to not concede early on and I think if they can stop Arsenal blowing them away in the first 10 minutes, then we’ll have a really good game on our hands.
I think it’ll be quite end-to-end for large parts of the game, and although I don’t buy into the whole ‘this one is a title decider’ narrative, I fancy the points to be shared with a 2-2 draw; keeping the pressure on and the title race wide open.