'Not that player' - Rio Ferdinand explains what Manchester United lacked vs Crystal Palace

Rio Ferdinand believes the Marcus Rashford of last season would have grabbed hold of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace to turn the game around.

The attacker has scored just once in eight appearances so far this campaign and has not looked in the kind of form of last season, when he scored three in the same period. Rashford had his best scoring return last term, becoming the first United player to net 30 goals since Robin van Persie a decade earlier.

In January, he netted the winner in the 2-1 home win over Manchester City to equal Dennis Viollet’s record for scoring in nine consecutive Old Trafford matches, before becoming the first Reds star to hit 10 match-deciding goals since Wayne Rooney in 2010.

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His disappointing start to this season has mirrored United’s poor pace out of the blocks, the club having won just three of their seven opening Premier League matches. The loss to Crystal Palace denoted their worst start to a league season in 34 years.

Ferdinand watched the match in frustration, keenly hoping for a player to take the bull by the horns. Analysing the game on YouTube show FIVE, he said: “You’re looking around and saying ‘who’s going to win it for you?’.

“There was not that player who went ‘this is me’. A lot of games happen where it’s like passive and not going anywhere and then one player goes, bang. Rashford was that last season.”

Erik ten Hag has faith that Rashford can turn his form around. He said post-Palace: “I think he knows he can do better than he does now. I'm sure it will come. He works hard and that's what he's doing.

“He will net, he will finish and