Marcus Rashford says Man Utd are in 'no man's land' with Ruben Amorim as manager

Marcus Rashford believes Manchester United have found themselves "in no man's land" after chopping and changing manager several times in recent years. Ruben Amorim is now at the helm, and the Portuguese is gearing up for his first full season in charge.

That season will begin without Rashford at Old Trafford. The England international has moved to Barcelona on loan, and could end up in Catalunya permanently if things go well. While his own focus is on the task at hand in La Liga, he has lamented the changes at Old Trafford which have brought United to this point.

“People say that we’ve been in a transition for years but to be in a transition you have to start it. The actual transition hasn’t started yet," Rashford told Podcast. “When Liverpool went through this, they got [Jurgen] Klopp and stuck with him. They didn’t win in the beginning. People only remember his final few years when he was competing with [Manchester] City and winning the biggest trophies.

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“To start a transition you have to make a plan and stick to it. This is where I speak about being realistic about what your situation is. We’ve had that many different managers, ideas and strategies in order to win that you end up in no man’s land.”

Liverpool reached the Europa League final in Klopp's first season, losing to Sevilla. United did the same in Amorim's first campaign, but it remains to be seen whether the club are as patient as their rivals.

Klopp had been for Anfield for more than two-and-a-half years before reaching the Champions League final, and three-and-a-half before winning a trophy. Since Sir Alex Ferguson left Old Trafford in 2013, no manager has lasted three years in the role there.

"Show me a successful team that just adapts," Rashford said, reflecting on the Ferguson era and what has followed. "When Fergie was in charge, not only the principles for the first team – the whole academy set up so you could pick players from 15 years and over – that’s a full generation. And they’d all understand the principles of playing the Man United way, right?

"You see it with any team that’s been successful over a period of time – they have principles that any coach that comes in, any player that comes in, has to align to these principles or be able to add to these principles. Whereas at times I feel like United have just been… we’re hungry to win, so we’ll always try to adapt and to sign players that fit this system. But it’s reactionary."

Amorim has added to his squad as United prepare to kick off the new season against Arsenal on Sunday. Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko have bolstered the front line, with Diego Leon adding defensive depth, and Amorim believes a selection headache can only be a good thing.

"It is supposed to be like that, not like last season that we have to struggle to put 11 players on the pitch," he said after Saturday's friendly against Fiorentina. "This is the normal thing so I need to think and they [the players] need to fight during the week, so they can change my mind, I have an idea but they will change my mind during the week.

"It is going to be tough because we try to arrange a full week of training, so we will have two really strong sessions with time to work and then we are going to break a little bit and then two days to really think about the strategy for the game and we will be ready.”

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