Marcus Rashford comments show he's ready for a big Manchester United change

The past 12 months for Marcus Rashford will have been the most difficult of his professional football career.

From 'that' penalty miss at the European Championships, to recovery from injury before eventually suffering what seemed to be a massive confidence crisis, which led to him losing his place in England and United's starting line-ups, it would be fair to say that Rashford has been through the wringer. However, now is the time to show that he is made of stronger stuff.

The time between now and the start of the 2022/23 season one of the most important spells in Rashford's career. The 24-year-old forward has now admitted that this is his first 'proper' pre-season since 2019.

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Couple this with a new coach in Erik ten Hag arriving at Carrington, with what Rashford has described as 'fresh ideas', and suddenly it feels like the foundations are there for him to really push on. It is something almost everyone can see has been lacking at the Theatre of Dreams for quite a while.

But Rashford's acceptance that this has been as good a close-season as he could have wished for may now work to his detriment. The arrival of Ten Hag and a summer, so far, devoid of drama shows that excuses can no longer be tolerated.

Last season, pundits could point to outside factors as reasons for Rashford's form, but the truth is he must now start to come good. If he fails to reach those heights everyone knows he is capable of reaching, United will have to start considering the unthinkable. Rashford's future has been thrown into doubt in the past year, fleetingly for now.

Following developments over the course of the weekend, there is perhaps never been a more