MARCUS RASHFORD admits it has been tough watching bitter rivals Manchester City deliver a stunning treble.
City stars Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, John Stones, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips all reported for England duty last night after being given extra time to celebrate winning the Champions League.
England face Malta on Friday and are at home to North Macedonia at Old Trafford three days later in Euro 2024 qualifiers. For Manchester United striker Rashford, 25, it was the first time he saw the five City players since they beat United in the FA Cup final on June 3.
Asked about watching City rule the Premier League and Europe, Rashford said: “It is not nice but it is football. The best team that has consistently playing the best football is going to win the most trophies. They have managed to win three this year and well done to them. We just move on now. It is up to the rest of us to catch them up. It is nothing new. Look at Barcelona years ago and Real Madrid. They were the most consistent teams so were going to win trophies.”
Rashford also hit back at criticism after continually pulling out of England duty. Since beating Kosovo 4-0 in a 2019 qualifier for Euro 2020, he has appeared just 13 times and 10 of those were either in the finals of Euro 2020 or Qatar 2022. In March, Rashford withdrew from the squad to face Italy and Ukraine but was then pictured on holiday in New York.
Rashford, who has 51 England caps, said: “I needed time to switch off and recover so I took a short trip for four days and then went back to do rehab and try and get ready as soon as possible. With these injuries, you can’t predict when they are going to happen. Thankfully I have very few muscle strains but occasionally you do get impact injuries. I know I am committed 100 percent so people are going to say what they want to say.”
