Jamie Carragher has criticised Marcus Rashford's performance in Manchester United's 4-1 defeat to Manchester City, describing parts of his display as "not acceptable." However, the Liverpool hero disagreed with Gary Neville and Roy Keane, insisting United did not give up but merely lost belief.
Rashford has been a bit-part player since Ralf Rangnick replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November. The England international started on the bench once again for Sunday's derby, coming on with 26 minutes remaining to replace Paul Pogba with City leading 2-1. He failed to provide the energy Rangnick sought as United conceded two further goals.
Analysing the match on Monday Night Football, Carragher highlighted a 15-second passage where Rashford did not move. "Now the others around him are running ragged," he said. "But he lets the ball go inside. And the worst thing for me is Rashford certainly was not the highest player in terms of the press - but now in the clip he is the deepest one there. I don't want to jump on the bandwagon because he is getting a lot of stick - but that is not acceptable."
Neville and Keane had slammed United players, with Neville saying they had "thrown the towel in" and Keane saying they "gave up." Carragher disagreed: "I think, it's 3-1, you are playing against the best team in the world and of course your shoulders are going to drop and players are going to lose that belief. When you are 3-1 down, you can't sit in and you have to try and win the ball back and that is when the pitch gets even bigger."
Rashford's United career appears to be stalling, having started only two of the club's last 11 league games. Reports suggest the 24-year-old could hand in a transfer request this summer in search of a fresh start.
