Marcus Rashford’s mother has opened up on her son’s recent struggles as she revealed the deaths of two people close to him ‘set him back a lot’, while warning the star of ‘people’s intentions around him’.
In a first-person piece published on Monday, Melanie Maynard said her son struggled to come to terms with the loss of his cousin Nathan last year, which followed the death of a ‘very good family friend’, Garf, in 2022.
Rashford has faced criticism for his performances for Manchester United this season and was slammed for going on a 12-hour tequila bender in Belfast in January.
But Ms Maynard has defended the star, insisting the heartache he has suffered has contributed to his issues both on and off the field.
‘The Queen awarded him an MBE for his work,’ she wrote in The Times.
Marcus Rashford’s mum Melanie Maynard (left) has opened up on her son’s recent struggles
Maynard said her son was impacted by the deaths of his cousin and a close family friend
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‘After all of this, Marcus worked hard to achieve a new contract at his boyhood club. ‘He loves United. Marcus produced an unbelievable performance last season, scoring 30 goals and 11 assists, to warrant a new contract.
‘After that, Marcus lost a second very important person in his life: his cousin Nathan in November, after a very good family friend, Garf, had died a year earlier, which set him back a lot. It was a lot for someone so young to deal with.’
Rashford’s infamous night out in Belfast led to him missing training and United’s FA Cup tie at Newport. He was fined two weeks’ wages by the club – worth £625,000 – and his position as a senior member of the dressing room suffered as a result.
The player had also tried to mislead United by claiming the boozy night out had taken place 24 hours earlier.
And Ms Maynard warned her son of the dangers of ‘people’s intentions around you’ following his antics in Belfast, when he was said to have been downing shots and cocktails before passing out fully-clothed at 3am.
‘Marcus is human, so he will have ups and downs in his life like everyone else,’ she added.
‘Marcus is in a very good place, he will never let anyone down. But you always need to be wary of people’s intentions around you — sometimes people around you can be wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing.’
Rashford dedicated his goal for United in the 3-0 win at Everton in November to his cousin. The England international was seen with his arms aloft and looking to the sky when celebrating the strike, which came from the penalty spot.
‘I would like to dedicate the goal yesterday to my cousin who recently passed away. GBNF,’ he wrote.
Rashford dedicated his goal against Everton at Goodison Park in November to his cousin
Rashford, who scored in United’s dramatic 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, recently hit back at his critics in an article for The Players Tribune entitled: ‘Who I really am.’
‘Listen, I’m not a perfect person,’ Rashford writes. ‘When I make a mistake, I’ll be the first one to put my hand up and say I need to do better.
‘But if you ever question my commitment to Man United, that’s when I have to speak up.
‘It’s like somebody questioning my entire identity and everything I stand for. 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.
‘Football can be a bubble. I have tried to stay a normal person, keep my same friends. I have tried my best not to change, even when I’m on a night out or on holiday.
Rashford (centre) as a child with his mother Ms Maynard. He had two brothers – Dwaine Maynard and Dane Rashford, although it is unclear which one is pictured with him, right
Rashford has credited his mum Melanie for inspiring his efforts to fight child poverty
The Man United and England star was awarded an MBE for his fundraising efforts back in 2021
Marcus Rashford is pictured after a World Cup match in Russia in 2018 with his mother Mel centre left) brothers Dwaine (far left) and Dane (far right) and girlfriend Lucia Loi (centre right)
‘But there’s another side to that. I’m a human being. I’ve made mistakes a lot of lads in their 20s make, and I’ve tried to learn from them. But I’ve also made sacrifices nobody sees.
‘The thing that I want you to understand is that money is not what keeps you playing through the hard times. It’s the love of the game, plain and simple.’
Writing for the Players’ Tribune, Rashford suggested the critics have had their knives out for him ever since he was awarded an MBE in 2021 for his work tackling child poverty.
‘I think some of it goes back to the pandemic,’ he added. ‘I was just trying to use my voice to make sure kids weren’t going hungry, because I know how it feels.
‘For some reason, that seemed to rub certain people (up) the wrong way. It seems 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 led a successful campaign to extend the provision of free school meals for vulnerable children during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The Man United and England forward had persuaded former Prime Minister Boris Johnson to provide free meals to vulnerable school children during the holidays.
Rashford’s efforts led to him being awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list the same year.
The 25-year-old’s campaigning on the issue had been influenced by the efforts of his mother Melanie, a single parent, to provide for him and his four siblings.
Rashford is known to be close to his mother and the two appeared on BBC Breakfast back in 2020, when Ms Maynard revealed that she would sometimes go without food to ensure her children could eat despite working three jobs.
The United forward and food poverty campaigner joined his mother to speak about their experiences.
She said: ‘I had three jobs and if I didn’t do that we wouldn’t have been able to cook a pot of food, it’s just a bit difficult.
‘So Marcus is only telling the story from how he sees it and the words he has been saying come from the bottom of his heart.
‘Sometimes it was really bad, I’d rather give the food to the kids than give it to myself, sometimes I didn’t get anything to eat.’
Source From: Football | Mail Online
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