Marcus Rashford sends strong message to his critics

The rising presence of social media within sports has brought many positives to the table, as interaction with the sports world is greater than ever. However, that has brought negatives as the lies within social media and media in general has only risen.

Football's globality has made the sport unique and powerful when it comes to social media. Fans from all the over world get on social media and discuss the sport, but sometimes agenda's develop and the dark side of social media rises.

Manchester United have the biggest fanbase in the world, with over 650 millions fans according to market research firm Kantar. With a fanbase that big, a difference of opinion between fans regarding the club is expected. Especially considering Manchester United's struggles in the past decade. Some fans have become tired and have developed deserved pessimistic feelings about the clubs, meanwhile others are staying positive and wishful.

This season has been a rough one for Manchester United as the club have struggled to form any real consistency and are likely to finish outside the top four which means no UCL football. The player that has come under the most scrutiny this season has been Marcus Rashford. The Englishman enjoyed a career high year last season with the Red Devils, scoring 30 goals in all competitions along with 11 assists. That earned him a new contract which saw him join the likes of Raphael Varane and Casemiro as the highest paid players. This season has been the complete opposite of last.

Rashford has struggled to get any consistency in front of goal with only 5 goals scored in 32 games, and because of these struggles his off the field life has been scrutinized and talked about all over media. You had the "incident" where he went out to a club the night of the defeat in the Manchester Derby. Then the "incident" in January where Marcus missed training after being in Belfast. This has led to the forward's commitment to the club being questioned and has seen his name dragged through the mud across all of media. Whether it be YouTube, newspapers, TV, or the internet in general.

Going back to the rise of media within sports, the introduction of the Players Tribune from Derek Jeter has given athletes a voice they never had before. Being able to hear athletes and what they go through from their point of view has been nothing short of amazing. It has even been useful for the forgotten ones like Adriano and Alexandre Pato. And today, after months of criticism Marcus Rashford decided to address his critics through the Players Tribune.

Marcus had a lot to say in his article, and one of the major points was to reaffirm his commitment to Manchester United.

""I’m not a perfect person. When I make a mistake, I’ll be the first one to put my hand up and say that I need to do better. But if you ever question my commitment to, that’s when I have to speak up.”"

- Marcus Rashford on The Player’s Tribune

Rashford went onto hint that he turned down other clubs various times in order to stay at Manchester United, and with confirmed interest from PSG over the last couple of years, it's hard to not believe him.

Rashford would go on to admit he played two games for City in his young academy days before deciding he only wanted to play for United. Rashford's piece is him trying to show fans and critics that he is human and that he makes mistakes, but his love and desire for the club is the one constant.

Rashford ended his letter by telling his doubters to keep on not believing in him, and it looks like he's using that doubt as a chip on his shoulder. It's now up to him to prove the doubters wrong, but he's making sure the only talking point about him should be his play on the pitch.

Players are not robots, and at the end of the day once they finish their job, they deserve to have a life outside the sport and not have it splashed all over the media. The play should be the topic of focus.