Marcus Rashford (Part 4)

GdLU...6zz5

27 Mar 2024

Marcus Rashford (Part 4)

Marcus Rashford's style of play and attributes draw comparisons to some of the greatest players in football history, highlighting his exceptional talent and potential.
His playing style, physical attributes, and end product have led to comparisons with Thierry Henry, one of the most prolific and dynamic forwards of his generation. Like Henry, Rashford possesses pace, skill, and a lethal finishing ability, making him a constant threat in the attacking third.

Louis van Gaal, Rashford's former manager, likened his performances at a young age to those of Patrick Kluivert, another Dutch forward known for his goal-scoring prowess and technical ability. This comparison speaks to Rashford's maturity and impact on the pitch, even at a relatively young age.
Erik ten Hag, who managed Rashford at Manchester United, compared him favorably to Kylian Mbappe, highlighting their similar roles and impact on the game. This comparison underscores Rashford's versatility and ability to excel in various attacking positions.
Growing up, Rashford idolized Brazilian striker Ronaldo and sought to emulate his playing style. Ronaldo's free-flowing and expressive approach to the game resonated with Rashford, inspiring him to play with confidence and flair on the pitch.

Rashford also idolized Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, two iconic figures at Manchester United known for their dedication, professionalism, and goal-scoring prowess. He credits Rooney's influence with helping him mature as a player and has expressed admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo's impact on the sport.
Described as a "student of the game," Rashford continues to study and learn from the world's best players, including Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero, in his quest to improve and reach new heights in his career. This dedication to learning and self-improvement reflects Rashford's ambition and commitment to excellence on and off the pitch.

Rashford set up the In the Box campaign with Selfridges to give homeless people essential items over the Christmas period, something he had wanted to do when first training with United as a youth. He and his mother visited homeless shelters to personally hand the boxes out, while also sending some to a children's home in his grandmother's home country of Saint Kitts and Nevis. He was reportedly frustrated by the limited outreach the campaign resulted in.During the UK lockdown imposed by Boris Johnson's government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rashford teamed up with the poverty and food waste charity FareShare to deliver meals to those in the Greater Manchester area who were no longer receiving their free school meals, as well as to children who attended community centres and school breakfast clubs.

Rashford initially contacted FareShare to make a "substantial" donation, but after discussion with CEO Lindsay Boswell, he decided to provide his full support. With an initial target of supporting 400,000 children in the region, the initiative quickly raised over £20 million to provide food for children nationwide who, if still at school, would be receiving free school meals. On 11 June, Rashford revealed that the charity had been able to provide 3 million meals across the country, a figure that rose to 4 million the following month.

On 15 June, Rashford wrote an open letter to the UK government calling on them to end UK child poverty. A day later, the government announced a change in policy regarding the extension of free school meals for children during the summer holidays, with Rashford's campaign credited as a major turning point in governmental talks; Rashford described himself as "proud" of what he had helped accomplish on behalf of 1.3 million children. His actions were described as a "political masterclass" by The Guardian, and he was praised for countering comments made by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock regarding the contributions of footballers. On 1 September, in an attempt to tackle child food poverty, Rashford announced that he had set up the Child Food Poverty Task Force in collaboration with several UK food shops, manufacturers, charities and delivery companies. Later that month, he said he was "disappointed by the lack of empathy" being shown by Conservative members of parliament.

After he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in October, Rashford vowed to continue his campaign, and a week later he began a petition on the UK Parliament petitions website to end child food poverty, with demands made for expansion of the free school meals programme, provision of meals and activities during school holidays, and an increase in the value of Healthy Start vouchers. The petition received over 100,000 signatures in 10 hours, meaning it had passed the threshold to be considered for parliamentary debate, and received over 200,000 signatures in the first day. With the petition close to 300,000 signatures after less than a week, Labour proposed an opposition day debate on the matter of extending free school meals, which was rejected by a majority of 61. Rashford criticised those who voted against it as lacking humanity.

Later that week, Rashford began using his Twitter account to promote cafés, individual people, charities and local businesses offering assistance to FareShare to help the impoverished around the country. He received the local backing of the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, and The Co-operative Group, to provide 1,000 food vouchers over half-term, which was quickly followed by councils and businesses across the North-West backing the efforts. He described himself as "blown away" by the nationwide support which followed, with over 100 businesses, charities, and local councils quickly pledging to the campaign. The same day, FareShare announced their new warehouse would be named Melanie Maynard House in honour of Rashford's mother, and it was revealed they had received donations in record numbers in the day following the Parliamentary debate.

In the following days, over 1,200 had signed up to provide free meals over the half-term, and Rashford's petition became only the sixth to reach over 1 million signatures. On 8 November, it was announced that, because of Rashford's campaign, the government would be providing funding of almost £400m over the next 12 months to support the cost of food and household bills to poor families. At the end of the month, former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and venture capitalist Michael Moritz pledged to double any donations through a Christmas fundraising appeal set up by Rashford in conjunction with The Times newspaper, with Ferguson declaring himself "proud" of Rashford. The campaign had raised over £2.7 million by the beginning of January.

Rashford again used his Twitter account to begin highlighting the unacceptable food packages parents had received through supplier Chartwells, an offspring of Compass Group, with Johnson again pressured into conducting a review into the situation after the pair had a conversation regarding the matter. During Prime Minister's Questions on 13 January, Johnson credited Rashford as being more effective opposition than the actual Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer, the current Leader of the Labour Party.
Rashford with chef Tom Kerridge, announced the launch of a series of recipes and online video lessons which will be available each week on Instagram and on recipe cards in supermarkets, schools and food banks to provide cheap and simple recipe ideas such as spaghetti bolognese and fish finger sandwich so that people could cook simple menus at home with the ideal that no one would go to bed feeling hungry.