United circus has derailed Rashford but fresh start is no guarantee of success

It was two years ago yesterday that Argentina won the World Cup. England had gone out to France in the quarterfinals and, beyond the usual kneejerk attacks on Gareth Southgate, there was a sense of general optimism.

- Jonathan Wilson

It was two years ago yesterday that Argentina won the World Cup. England had gone out to France in the quarterfinals and, beyond the usual kneejerk attacks on Gareth Southgate, there was a sense of general optimism. They had lost in a 50-50 game, beaten in the marginal details, and the squad looked young and fresh. When had we last seen an England attack so bristling with talent, as a front three of Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane and Phil Foden demonstrated, with Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford on the bench to replace them?

How quickly the world of football changes. Grealish is an intermittent presence at a glitching Manchester City. Sterling, chewed up by the Great Disruption at Chelsea, has vanished on his loan at Arsenal. But nobody perhaps has suffered a more striking decline than Rashford. He'd scored off the bench against Iran and got two against Wales on his only World Cup start in Qatar. He returned from the tournament in the form of his life. He scored eight goals in his next seven appearances. In total that season, he scored 30 goals for Manchester United. He'd campaigned successfully to secure free meals for disadvantaged children during school holidays, which appeared to speak not only of a social conscience but unusual maturity.

He seemed to have added a yard of pace and a greater directness to his game, and had a pleasing knack of putting the ball in the net. By the end of that season, he was 25 and seemingly entering his peak.