‘He’s not a youngster anymore’: Alan Shearer slams Marcus Rashford for his positioning in 2-1 defeat by Brighton… with Man United striker having ‘extra training sessions’ under a club legend

Premier League legend Alan Shearer has criticised Marcus Rashford for his poor positioning and movement during Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Saturday.

Rashford played 65 minutes at the AMEX Stadium and failed to fire a single shot.

A similar story played out in United’s first league game of the season, when Rashford failed to connect on a shot against Fulham despite playing the full 90 minutes.

According to The SunRashford has had extra sessions with club legend Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined United’s coaching staff in July.

Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 goals in 219 games for United between 2001 and 2006, is understood to be focusing on improving Rashford’s defensive awareness and runs through the penalty area.

Alan Shearer was critical of Rashford during his analysis of Match of the Day on Saturday

He was replaced in the 65th minute by manager Erik ten Hag after failing to fire a single shot.

But Shearer highlighted another area of ​​Rashford’s game that clearly still needs significant improvement.

Analysis of Saturday’s action on BBC Match of the dayShearer took issue with Rashford for being offside twice against Brighton.

Former Newcastle and Blackburn striker Shearer began his short tirade by pointing out that United scored just 57 goals in the Premier League last season – fewer than any other team in the top half.

He said: ‘Ruud van Nistelrooy has been brought in and he will have to work his magic somehow.

I know that they [Rasmus] Hojlund is injured, but if he comes, he will have to improve that. Because based on the results today and in the game against Fulham, it was not good enough by far.’

Gary Lineker – like Shearer a prolific striker and former England captain – attempted to defend Rashford against his frequent offside offences.

“The only thing I would say in defence of Rashford is at least he’s trying to make runs,” Lineker said.

However, Shearer hit back: ‘Yes, but he is not a young player anymore. He has to understand the position and look across the pitch when you can see the whole picture, then you should not be offside.’

Rashford hopes to put last season’s problems behind him after a poor campaign

Former goal machine Ruud van Nistelrooy watched Saturday’s match from the United dugout

Rashford and van Nistelrooy are said to work together a lot on the training field

Shearer scored 260 Premier League goals in 441 games between 1992 and 2006. The 54-year-old is still the competition’s all-time top scorer.

Meanwhile, Rashford has scored 83 times in 274 top-flight appearances for United.

Rashford has twice scored as many as 17 goals in a Premier League season: in 2019-20 and again in 2022-23.

But last season he scored only seven times in 33 league games.

United’s next match is a home game against Liverpool on September 1.