Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer were at loggerheads over Marcus Rashford’s performance against Brighton.
Manchester United crumbled to defeat in dramatic circumstances after Brighton grabbed a last-gasp winner at the Amex Stadium on Saturday in the Premier League.
After Amad Diallo had cancelled out former Red Devils star Danny Welbeck’s opener, Joao Pedro headed in a 95th-minute winner to send the home fans into a frenzy and leave Erik ten Hag pondering.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Premier League legend Shearer picked out Rashford for his performance after he was found to be offside on several occasions.
Gary Lineker defended Marcus Rashford at the weekend
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One moment saw the England international standing in an offside position for quite a while and did not try to get back onside despite being able to look down the line.
“Amad, I thought, was their best player in forward positions, but there was a lack of understanding about where they were on the pitch, particularly from Marcus Rashford,” he started.
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“The number of times they were in offside positions…”
As the visual played out in the studio of Rashford standing in an offside position, Shearer remarked it “really is staggering” to see.
Lineker leaped to the 26-year-old’s defence, saying: “At least he is trying to make runs.”
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But Shearer blasted his BBC pal’s defence, replying: “Yeah, but he’s not a youngster anymore, Gary.
“He has to understand the position and look across the pitch when you can see all of it. He shouldn’t be offside there.”
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Marcus Rashford had a tough time against Brighton
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The brief clash was compounded by Shearer insisting that the arrival of attacking coach Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 times in 219 appearances for the Red Devils, might help the Englishman out.
The Newcastle legend said: “Ruud van Nistelrooy’s been brought in, he’s gonna have to work his magic somehow.
“I know they’ve got [Rasmus] Hojlund out injured, but when he comes in, he’s gonna have to improve that.”
Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker briefly clashed in the Match of the Day studio
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United have not had the greatest starts to the season after first losing the Community Shield to Manchester City and now losing to Brighton on Saturday in damaging circumstances.
Even their victory over Fulham was hardly awe-inspiring, relying on summer signing Joshua Zirkzee to net an 89th-minute winner.
However, Ten Hag is still tweaking his squad and United are set to sign Manuel Ugarte before the end of the transfer window in three days time.
Napoli are on the verge of taking Scott McTominay off their hands while Brentford’s Ivan Toney has also been linked with the Red Devils.