Rashford binge isn't the end of the world, but he should at least show up for work

MARCUS RASHFORD committed one deadly sin last week.

It wasn't like he was going on a twelve-hour tequila bender in Belfast – not that this was advisable.

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It was because he didn't show up for work the next morning.

If you, as a player, go out on a school night, rule No. 1 states that you must report for training the next morning – even if you throw up in the bushes.

Many players in the Manchester United dressing room will have judged Rashford poorly for calling in sick after his drinking session.

I know some are wondering about the double standards Erik ten Hag is displaying towards Rashford and Jadon Sancho.

Finding out that Rashford would be straight back into the team to face Wolves on Thursday will have raised some eyebrows.

Ten Hag must have told him in no uncertain terms that he owed him something and that he should not abandon him.

It didn't really surprise me that he scored after just five minutes and played well in the 4-3 win over Molineux.

Rashford seems to play better when he feels slighted, but I would like to see more consistency from him.

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Last season, when he scored thirty goals, that was an outlier. Most of his career was patchy.

If Rashford scores against West Ham tomorrow and United win, his drinking session will fade from most people's minds.

Still, there will be teammates who wonder: 'When will it end? When is he going to stop missing games for disciplinary reasons?'

However, it's not the fact that he went out for a drink.

Even now that top footballers no longer drink as much as they used to, it is not uncommon for a player to show up for training due to wear and tear.

Players are routinely urine tested every day to check hydration levels.

And they can tell if you even had a glass or two of wine with your dinner the night before. Your pee is much darker in color.

Drinking during the week isn't completely banned, but players will certainly hear about it if they drink too much too regularly.

The real 'drinking culture' at the highest level of English football, in which players get into fistfights and drink copious amounts of lager, has been long gone since Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996.

I estimate that around 30 to 40 percent of Premier League players are teetotal, especially during the season.

Many younger, especially single boys, often go out for a night without drinking a drop. This has resulted in a cultural change.

They still want that escapism, a bit of 'normal' life – to see their friends and maybe meet women.

More players smoke than you might think and it is common knowledge that many players use Snus – a smokeless tobacco product placed in the mouth.

Some do 'balloons': laughing gas.

Married players can still have a bottle of wine with the wife over dinner two or three times a week, depending on their schedule.

On a night out, players are more likely to drink cocktails or shorts than beer as these are easier on the waistline.

Whether you drink or not, the key is to choose times to have a night out.

Celebrating your birthday straight after a 3-0 home defeat in a Manchester derby, as Rashford did in October, is not the right time.

And when new owners come into the club, as United have done following the part-takeover of Sir Jim Ratcliffe for £1.03 billion, it's certainly a time to keep your nose clean.

It's possible that Rashford went out for drinks quite often last season when he was at the peak of his powers.

But no one worries about that kind of thing, inside or outside the club, when things are going well.

But Rashford has had at least three major problems with Ten Hag in the last year and the interesting thing for me is how differently the manager has treated him and Sancho.

No two cases are the same and Sancho did challenge the manager's authority after Ten Hag criticized his poor performance in training.

But he was dealt a severe blow as he was left out of the first-team squad before being loaned out to his former club Borussia Dortmund early last month.

With Rashford, the Dutchman Ten Hag is much milder.

And that's mainly because you can't keep throwing away large possessions.

Sancho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mason Greenwood were all allowed to leave during Ten Hag's time and United's squad was thinned in January.

They struggled at Wolves and looked weaker when Ten Hag started making substitutions.

I believe the manager is on thin ice and I wouldn't be surprised if United return to Jose Mourinho.

The Special One believes he has unfinished business at Old Trafford and is keen to get another crack at it.

Some say Mourinho is outdated.

But during his two full seasons at the club they finished second in the Premier League, won the Europa League and the League Cup.

United would like that kind of 'failure' now.

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