Micah Richards criticises Marcus Rashford to his face as he makes 'selfish' remark

Marcus Rashford must get more selfish in front of goal if he's going to succeed at Barcelona. That's according to Micah Richards, who told the former Manchester United player to his face as he criticised his shortcomings up front.

United outcast Rashford, 27, has joined the reigning La Liga champions for the season after spending the second half of last term on loan at Aston Villa. And he's already got his account up and running under Hansi Flick after scoring and assisting in Barca's last two pre-season fixtures.

Once seen as the golden child of Old Trafford, Rashford has been sent out on loan after the goals dried up in Manchester. And Richards pointed out what he sees as an obvious flaw in his game on

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"One criticism from me in your game is I feel like you can be more selfish," said the former Manchester City star. "Because you're getting into great areas, then you always want to pass! All the other players [at the] top of world football are shooting."

Rashford appeared to show understanding for the critique but responded by suggesting his priorities aren't solely scoring goals. The 62-cap England international scored a career-high 30 goals during the 2022/23 campaign under Erik ten Hag before a falling out with United successor Ruben Amorim appeared to affect his performance.

"Don't get me wrong, I love scoring goals and stuff, but this is why I can't consistently be a No. 9," he replied. "Because it's not natural for me to do that, so if I am doing that, I feel like I'm forcing it. And I know that I'm missing other pictures of the game.

"Like, if I was just playing freely, I'd be seeing these pictures, so there [are] a lot of times when I don't shoot because I feel like the chance of it being blocked and missing a chance for the team, rather than just for me, is pretty high. But also the striker in me is like, 'If I can get it through his legs here [laughs], there's a high chance of it going in!'"

Those comments may cause consternation with some United fans, many of whom will have seen the scoring potential in the player. Rashford soared through the club's academy playing as a striker and burst onto the senior circuit in 2016 with a reputation for his cool finishing.

The player showed a willingness to help the team when shifted out to the flanks in order to create room for others to play more centrally. And his game has been modified as a result, even though he still has the capacity to play as a more regimented centre forward.

That instinct was on full display when he scored his first Barcelona goal in a recent friendly against South Korean club Daegu. The forward capped the 5-0 rout by flashing a powerful drive past the goalkeeper from the penalty spot following a cut-back from ex-Man City defender Eric Garcia.

He followed up by notching his first Barca assist in the Joan Gamper Trophy, another dominant 5-0 win over Italian club Como. However, that match also saw Rashford left with egg on his face after missing a wide open goal at the back post.

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