Marcus Rashford is only 22 and making big strides. I think he could be up there yet few talk about him.
People talked about him loads when he first broke out as an 18 y.o. It's because he hasn't progressed enough since then that the hype has died down.
I can only talk for myself.. He can kick a ball and he is a good professionalist. Thats about it. I personally dont see much of a hidden talent there. At best he can become a winger FK speacialist with very good dribbling and technique, decent passing that is a very consistent performer. He can always learn how to bang 50+ goals because that is an art of its own, but i dont think that is predictable in anyway. So at best i see him as a regular world class winger. The likes of which we see often. Not a top 10 material of the decade or close to that. Someone like Sancho has much more potential. He is ridiculously talented. Rodrygo has simplicity in the final third that i hardly ever see from Rashford, etc.
Well he has 12 goals in 20 appearances this season and a lot of them coming against big teams. Not to mention playing on a roster that leaves a lot to be desired. Probably the weakest Man U squad in 30 years. I respectfully disagree. Rashford was dominant in the Spurs game the other day. To be honest, it was all simple moves to get open and get a shot off. He scored 2 goals but could have scored 4. He definitely has top 10 in the world potential. I'd rank Mbappe and Sancho over him, maybe Rodrygo though I haven't seen enough of him. Who else from players his age or younger? And he performs well against big teams. This season so far he has goals against Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, and Tottenham.
Well yes, as a 22 year old. Surely you see why that is less exciting than the 19 year old Sancho or 20 year old Kai Havertz. That's not to say Rashford will end up worse. The nature of hype is, when you first break out, people will always expect too much from you. If you can deliver close to it, then the hype goes overboard. If not, the hype dies down, even if you improve, and the attention moves on to someone else. To get the hype back, he'd need a true breakout season. If he ends the season with 25-ish goals, then the hype will be back, I think.
Lloris would have saved that. I didnt mean simple in the sense that he doesnt overcomplicate with his decision, but simple in the sense he doesnt see simple ways to score goals. Any player that scores a lot of goals doesnt rely purely on finishing abilities, but on the ability to be in the right place at the right time. That is the simplicity i was talking about. You have to take in consideration few things. This united is already built around Rashford. Him and de gea are the only two undisputed starters in last few years. And rashford has no easy way to improve anymore because this is already his 5th season. There is no "once he gets used to it he will get much better" argument that one could argue for a kid. He is as comfortable on the pitch as he will ever be. Age is just a number. Vardy at 27 had more to learn than Rashford does at 22. Assuming the growth for a player just because he is young is very flawed way to look at things. Let me ask you. How good is he now, numerically, compared to other wingers? What are the areas of the game he can improve in? I am not watching united every game, but from what ive seen, i dont think rashford has that talent for being in the right place at the right time, that for example Mbappe has shown to possess. I dont care about the big games arguments. The distinction is pointless in examining ones abilities. It might bias you towards one or the other answer for no right reason. Rashford does have pace and technique, tho not remarkable. Nothing that mane or salah or mahrez or sterling dont have. His creativity does seem better from this video than i thought but it could be a selection bias. I see in him a solid world class winger with the exceptional ability to kick the ball.
PL + Europa... Well Mane, Salah, and Sterling are top 10 attackers in the world so if he gets to their level, that kind of shows that he does have exceptional ability. Big games do matter. Scoring against the best teams invariably shows ability because those teams are better at defending. However ability is indeed just one factor for a footballer. The other is consistency and that comes from training properly, eating property, mental preparation, motivational techniques etc. I've watched quite a few United games and they rarely do anything unless it's Rashford carrying them.
One, lets stop calling him wingers. He has played as a CF very often in his career as well. I think his best description is maybe wide forward. Two, don't you think Rashford could develop into something similar to Mane? I can personally see it. That wouldn't make him the best player in the world, but it could put him among the world's top 10 in some years of this decade.
Would you call salah or ronaldo a winger? Then rashford is a winger as well. Attempts at deploying him as a #9 will soon stop. He doesnt have characteristics to play it and he perfectly suits wingers role. At most he can play one of the strikers in a two strikers attack. It is just matter of time before united buys a natural #9 and rashford will never ever see that position again. I distinctly said top 10 of the whole decade (of 2020s). I do think he can be as good as Mane. Thats what i meant by a solid world class player. Tho Mane is imo not close to the likes of Neymar and co. Pl + europa is doable this season. He is on the pace to do that. It was about the time he steps up. He is getting solid 40+ games a season ever since he was 19 It is up to him to continue the trend of the past 3 months. Big teams are not necessarly better at defending and it is not necessarly more difficult to score against them. That is exactly the kind of misconception that makes the big games argument flawed, especially when evaluating youngsters. How many goals had tottenham conceded in the first 3 games under Mourinho prior to playing against United? It is much more important what you do against everyone all the time.. on average, if you will. Player that scores a hattrick every time he plays against liverpool, but in no other situation is the player that scores 6 goals per season and guarantees you only 6 points. That is bad no matter how great liverpool is. If Rashford can not produce the same kind of performances against small teams as he does against big teams, he is not that good. He is either incapable of bearing with pressure, playing against defensive teams, being consistent or whatever. Which ever the case, it is important he is performing all the time. No extra points for it being tottenham unless you can produce that every week. According to understat, United is the 4th best attack in terms of expected goals per game with 26.39 xG. For comparison, Liverpool is 3rd with 29.79. United scored 23 goals, Liverpool 37. Rashford, being the focal point of 4th best attack, is leading xG chart with 10.42. The second is Vardy with only 8.90. Vardy has 14 goals, Rashford 9. 10.42 divided by 26.39 is 39%. Which proves your idea that pretty much all comes from Rashford in Uniteds attack. What i am reading from all of these is that United consciously put Rashford in their focal point. He is averaging the most shots per 90 than he ever had in his career. More freedom than ever. Rashford is inconsistent with his finishing hence he scored less goals than expected. He is not particularly great at finding sweatspots. He is at 0.45 non penalty expected goals per 90', which is the same like last season. That is not at the rate of elite goalscorers yet. And given the fact he is already the focal point and 22 i dont see any obvious room from improvment other than United as a team getting much better. That leaves him at Manes level of goalscoring not including penalties and free kicks. Which is not bad at all, but i dont see any extra step he can make to challenge the very top. And since he is not as talented dribbler as Sancho and co, his status will very much depend on his ability to score and assist. Its up to him to prove me wrong.
What are the characteristics that he severely lack that stops him from being a #9? Also no, I don't consider Salah or Ronaldo wingers. This forum has had this conversation before. I personally call them wide forwards.
Its not that he severaly lacks anything but it is stupid to make rashford play with his back towards goal or make him isolated from possession most of the game or make him operate in tight area under pressure of central defenders or make him central focus of crosses when there are pretty obvious qualities that he possess that are perfect for wide positions where there is space and he can play with body oriented towards goal. Okay so it is the question of semantics. Call him whatever. I can go with wide forward. Sounds good
You used a great example of a player who is all over the pitch this season and plays along side an actual number 9 (false nine-ish) Lacazette.
Arsenal is of course a mess, but you can look at how Auba was used at Dortmund post-Lewandowski. He's not a back to goal player, and was their no.9, and scored 25 in 31, 31 in 32, and 13 in 16.
These are semantic issues. All positions are human-made contructs. They dont actually exist, but we use them to define and label different ideas. When i think of #9 i think of player like Morata, Lewandowski, Benzema, Costa, etc. So in that sense i guess i wouldnt call Auba #9 even if he is the top scorer and focal point of his teams. But it doesnt matter. What you seem to imply and what is a better conversational topic is that Rashford can play like Auba. Fill his role. Ive never thought of that. Perhaps. Which would then imply that Rahsford can become a goal per game player. I personally wouldnt use Rashford that high up the pitch. He has a great wide game and he can make some serious difference there. Unlike Auba who is mostly useless outside the penalty box. So in conclusion i dont see them as the same type of players.
I dont know is he just in a form or what, but Fede Valverde deserves the mention. There isnt anything that immidiately stands out about him, but he is bloody impressive. Very well balanced player with great decision making.
Riqui Puig: Vs Phil Foden: Who will be better? I would say Puig is more talented technician. Foden has better coaching and is more driven.
Frenkie de Jong has been named as RAC1's MOTM today. Congratulations!— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 18, 2019 I wasn't too thrilled to be honest but this is a good sign. He came in his comfort zone when he moved centrally.