When Ibrahimovic gets banned the refusal of Mourinho to give other strikers a chance will be even more damning.
With Kane out, it was to be expected any way. Not worried about potentially playing as freshness should not be a major issue for him. Just needs to come back fully healthy.
One year ago today...@MarcusRashford 🔥 pic.twitter.com/e6hhRDkj1t— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 20, 2017
The finish of a confident and crucially match sharp player. Mourinho's failure to give him adequate minutes at #9 is damning. It is even more damning given how much quicker, dangerous and dynamic we look with fast, positive runners in attack who are prepared to make incisive and penetrative runs.
The difference between Rashford scoring and not scoring on those two chances was microscopic. He looked fantastic in his runs on both plays and another day he could have ended up with 2 or 3 goals. The second half is a different matter, but that was largely a function of Jose going into shell mode to protect the lead.
At the very least,we have to hope that Rashford's performances so far in both games vs Chelsea and yesterday vs Boro, will be enough to give him confidence to turn to Rashford more as a 9 the ret of the way. Zlatan, is getting a nice period of rest right now, one that will serve him right looking ahead to the run in, but as it's been mentioned before, rotation is going to be crucial the rest of the way. Rashford, along with other fringe players, have shown they can be relied upon to produce when called upon, and he needs to see more time upfront spelling Zlatan.
i'm a fan of rashford and i think he can be the featured #9 at united in a couple of seasons. but we can't absolve him of any criticism. his movement was excellent yesterday but top strikers convert clear chances - he failed in that regard, and it's more than rust. i noticed that he usually just kinda taps it in the general direction of the goal without actually aiming for an opening. sometimes you're lucky and it gets under the goalie's armpit or through the legs but that's not clinical at all. also, his hold up play needs major work. he hasn't yet learn to play with his back to the goal. i believe he'll get there but running at defenders, as an impact sub, from the right or the left is still what he does best, at the moment. and that's perfectly fine, he's 19!
His hold up play and finishing need to take a big leap forward before he's able to lead the line in a single striker formation. However if we were ever to go to a 4-4-2 he could be ready as soon as next season because of his movement and ability to run at defenders. He's young so peaks and valleys are expected as far as finishing goes. Hold up play has to get better and he has to become stronger on the ball.
If failing to convert easy chances was cause for a reduction in playing time, Zlatan wouldn't be playing either. The point that was made about Rash was that despite his profligacy, he brought much to the table. That's excellent for a young striker. I don't think Rash is exempt from criticism either. Nobody is calling for him to start every game. He definitely should get a minimum of 20 minutes every game to allow Zlatan to play with more abandon.
I find it hilarious people beating Rashford for his finishing when I cannot remember the last time this season he lead the line, maybe earlier in the season. With Mourinho leaving him uptop on his own with the only support he is getting is from Lingard's box to box display, he did tremendous in my book. Not to mention, he played in a formation that freaking starves a forward, his left winger and right winger as unimaginative as you can get, and two of his midfielders were sitting deep. Thank God for someone like Lingard whose football IQ helped him be efficient. Rashford needs consistent minutes at 9. His finishing will come, but he needs to bulk up a bit and be more of a physical presence when his back/hold up play is happening. I am happy he is starting the next game as well, it will do him good.
Spot on correct. Internet posters should keep in mind things like a player's age and experience and the circumstances of the day. We should be very pleased at what we saw from Marcus, despite not scoring on two or three chances better players like Robben would have scored on. The future is very bright for the boy.
Rashford appears to be set to start today against Germany, because of Sterling's apparent unavailability according to reports from the England camp. Good chance for him to put another good performance (hopefully capped with a goal) where his pace and movement can trouble a usually pretty static German backline. A good showing with England would only increase his overall confidence, which would be timely for United as well.
my issues with rashford's finishing have nothing to do with rust or lack of rhythm: he's just not yet a very good striker of the ball. it's not unfair to point that out and any comparison with zlatan on that front is insane. it's easy to say that rashford should start more but there is not a single manager in the prem who would bench a healthy zlatan for rashford, and he wouldn't have 25+ goals at this stage given all of ibra's starts. and that's not even factoring the hold up play. what's the rush? being an impact sub out wide and playing up front when zlatan is not available is exactly how he should be used at this point in his career.
His development will stakenate if he does not get meaningful minutes at #9. It does him no favours and it weakens us as we effectively have no-one ready to spot Ibrahimovic. I would also add that no-one was complaining about his finishing past season when he was getting regular minutes at #9.
Which was a spike over his finishing in the unders imo. I'm not sure what his real level is in terms of finishing to be honest. Inconsistent is what comes to mind right now.