Sports
Manchester United: Marcus Rashford says commitment to club cannot be questioned
Marcus Rashford says people questioning his commitment to Manchester United need to show “more humanity”.
Rashford, 26, has scored five goals for United this season and faced criticism about perceived attitude issues.
He missed United’s FA Cup win over Newport, days after he was reportedly seen in nightspots in Northern Ireland.
“If you ever question my commitment to United, that’s when I have to speak up,” the England forward said in a piece for The Players’ Tribune.
“It’s like somebody questioning my entire identity, and everything I stand for as a man.
“I grew up here. I have played for this club since I was a boy. My family turned down life-changing money when I was a kid so I could wear this badge.”
Manchester-born Rashford came through the United youth ranks before making his first-team debut as an 18-year-old in 2016.
He has gone on to make 391 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 128 goals.
Rashford finished last season with a career-best tally of 30 goals, but he has been unable to make the same impact this time around as United have struggled to build on their first campaign under manager Erik ten Hag.
They sit sixth in the Premier League after 26 games.
“I can take any criticism. I can take any headline. From podcasts, social media and the papers. I can take it,” Rashford added.
“But if you start questioning my commitment to this club and my love for football and bringing my family into it, then I’d simply ask you to have a bit more humanity.”
Rashford has faced questions about his work-rate on the pitch and criticism about his off-field conduct.
In January, there were reports he had been seen in Belfast nightspots before missing training at United a day later through illness and then the Newport game.
He was dropped from the starting line-up for a Carabao Cup tie against Newcastle in November because Ten Hag was unhappy at him being seen out celebrating his birthday just hours after a 3-0 defeat by rivals Manchester City.
United face City again this weekend.
Another disciplinary measure saw Rashford put on the substitutes’ bench for United’s Premier League game at Wolves last season after oversleeping and being late for a team meeting.
Rashford believes there is a “tone which other footballers don’t get” in media coverage about him, putting that partly down to his high-profile child food poverty campaign which prompted a government U-turn in 2020.
“It seems like they’ve been waiting for me to have a human moment so they can point the finger and say, ‘See? See who he really is?'” Rashford wrote.
“Listen, 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.”
Sports
Challenge Cup: Huddersfield Giants 10-46 Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves secure a dominant 46-10 victory over Huddersfield Giants to reach their first Challenge Cup Final since 2019, where they’ll meet Wigan Warriors.
READ MORE: Warrington crush Huddersfield to set up Wigan Wembley date
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Sports
World Para Athletics Championships: Sabrina Fortune sets world record to win shot put gold
Britain’s Sabrina Fortune twice extended the world record on her way to defending her shot put title at the World Para Athletics Championships in Japan.
Fortune, who competes in the F20 category for athletes with intellectual impairments, threw 14.56m in the second round in Kobe, improving the 14.39 mark set by Ecuador’s Poleth Mendes on her way to winning Paralympic gold in Tokyo in 2021.
The 26-year-old Welsh woman had taken the lead in the first round with 14.18 and with the gold medal secured, she improved again to 14.73 with the final throw of the competition.
“I’ve thrown two world records in a day which is incredible,” said Fortune, who also took world gold in Dubai in 2019 and retained her title in Paris last summer.
“I just had to tell myself after the first world record not to celebrate too early because I knew if I overdid it, I wouldn’t throw any further.
“It’s hard to put into words how it felt to throw even further. I just wanted to run round and round in circles.”
Mendes took silver with 13.90 with Neutral Paralympic Athlete Aleksandra Zaitseva in third with 13.01.
It is Britain’s third gold medal of the championships after victories for javelin thrower Hollie Arnold and high jumper Jonathan Broom-Edwards over the opening two days of competition.
Of the other Britons in finals action on Sunday, Mo Jomni was fifth in the men’s T53 400m while fellow wheelchair racer Mel Woods was seventh in the women’s T54 800m and sprinter Ali Smith seventh in the T38 100m.
Sports
Chelsea: Emma Hayes ‘absolutely leaving at the right time’
Emma Hayes said she is “absolutely leaving at the right time” as her 12-year tenure in charge of Chelsea came to an end.
The 47-year-old bowed out with her fifth successive Women’s Super League title and her seventh overall.
An emphatic 6-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford means Hayes departs with 14 major honours, including five FA Cups and two League Cups.
In a thrilling finale to the WSL season, Chelsea pipped Manchester United to the title on goal difference.
“It has taken its toll,” Hayes said. “I categorically cannot carry on. I don’t have another drop to give it.
“There is so much of the job, dealing with people, and when you deal with people I have such high standards for myself that maintaining that has become impossible.
“I can’t keep up with the demands from players on a daily basis, in terms of their emotional needs, in terms of everything, and I’ve found that to be gruelling this year.
“I hope that the club really supports the new manager to get player care and a little bit more performance psychology.
“I really believe in the wellbeing, even though I can’t take care of it in the same way.
“I’ve made my suggestions to the sporting directors and I know they’ll take it on. It was lovely to have them here today.”
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