Marcus Rashford has had, you could say, a busy two weeks. After being snubbed for Sam Allardyce’s first England game against Slovakia – a game that, to be fair, no one looked particularly good in, he went on to debut for the national under-21s against Norway and score a hat-trick in a 6-1 demolition.
It might have been a calculated performance designed to make a point about big Sam’s erroneous selection – as the senior side dragged themselves over the line with a 1-0 win against 10-men Slovakia in their opening World Cup qualifier, had Rashford not been in impressive form for club for some time now. Playing well, and scoring a few while he’s at it seems to be his speciality right now.
Out Of Favour
Despite flying higher than ever before, this season has been tricky for him. With a change in manager, Manchester United are playing a more aggressive, fascinating (read: successful) style of football, one that suits his seemingly endless pace. However, bringing in Ibrahimovic, and everything that comes with him, Rashford’s bright spark has been somewhat overshadowed for the early games.
On the bench he sits, while King Zlatan slots home the goals. To be fair the Swedish legend has been doing just fine, with 4 in 4, and has taken to the Premier League like an absolute natural, forming a charming bromance with Paul Pogba along the way.
It would be easy to turn now to the critics and say that Rashford deserves no special treatment. Already, Mourinho has been ringing in the changes, with Juan Mata quietly out of favour, Schweinsteiger all but shown the door (recently photographed in the stands with the crowd at a recent game), and even new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan bouncing from bench to pitch.
All Over Them Like A Rash-ford
But mention Rashford and the following two words come up time and time again: “bright future”. His stock is only going up, his appeal is crossing boundaries and is almost universal. Yes, everyone has to prove their worth, but he’s so young and has so much to give.
Nowhere was this more visible than in last weekend’s derby against Manchester City. In what can really only be described as a truly breathless game, City went up 2-0, before some neat footwork by Ibrahimovic got United back in the game.
The tension was palpably high, and every player deserves some credit for putting themselves on the line (I’m looking at you, Bravo/Rooney) in a nail-biting spectacle. With pressure like that, it takes a stunning performance to really stand out amongst the legends of the league, but that’s just what Rashford provided.
Coming on at the halfway mark for the returning Jesse Lingard, the numbers don’t lie about his impact. In his 1st minute of play, he completed more take-ons than Lingard managed in his first 45. He has form against the local rivals too, having scored 2 in their last encounter (albeit a 4-2 loss) at the Etihad. He injected a much needed burst of pace into Saturday’s game, terrorising the City defence, but was unable to make the difference that would have taken even a point for his team.
Well, that’s not exactly true. He did hit the net on Saturday, but in what could only be termed a moment of extreme irony his goal was disallowed because Ibrahimovic, who was literally standing in his way, was adjudged to rightly have deflected the shot past Bravo.
Boy Wonder
Better fortunes were to be had two weeks ago against Hull. As United struggled for 90 minutes to break down a team that refuses to be broken down (and throws their bodies on the line to make sure that doesn’t happen), it was Rashford who kept his head up until the last moment, and took advantage of a rare break in concentration from the Hull defence (who were just running on fumes at that point), to tap Rooney’s pass into the net.
The look on his face says it all, it’s sheer joy from a player who seems to care immensely. The papers were all over it the next day too, screaming ‘Boy Wonder’ and sending their England shirts to the printers. All eyes were on Sam Allardyce at that aforementioned U-21 game, as he clapped through a bemused smile while Rashford banged in goal after goal.
Rashford’s Big Break
The Special One, for all his flaws, seems to have got the message. As recently as the beginning of this week, he announced that Rashford will in all likelihood start for the upcoming Europa League game against Feyenoord. Is this Mourinho’s first capitulation, is it a warning shot to the big dogs of the team, or more likely, is it a quick way to rotate his squad and rest key players for the prize he truly cares about – the Premier League?
Whatever the case, it’s ample opportunity for Rashford to continue his hot form, continue his development and prove to anybody with half an eye on him that he deserves serious consideration on all sides and at all levels.