Having shot onto the scene with a brace against Midtjylland to send United through to the Europa League last 16, many were expecting Marcus Rashford to flop on the Premier League stage. ‘He won’t be able to cope with the step up’, ‘the Danish side aren’t even League 2 quality’ were phrases that ushered out the doubter’s mouths as United headed into a huge fixture against Arsenal at Old Trafford. 90 minutes later, the youngster had shocked football fans across the country with 2 goals and an assist. 4 goals in 2 games thrust the young man to stardom.
Rashford is a product of the Fletcher Moss Youth academy and has been with United since he was 16 years old. His youth team have supplied United with many players such as Wes Brown, Danny Welbeck, Ravel Morisson and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson yet the academy still find themselves struggling to survive, however, that’s another matter. The most current star to have featured for Fletcher Moss is Marcus Rashford a striker that has been well thought of around Carrington. From a young age the youngster would ‘score 10 goals a game and get bored causing him to start setting others up’, while academy players from Leicester have said he ‘rang rings around them’.
The euphoria surrounding the explosive Rashford is deserved due to his displays that have taken even Van Gaal by shock who claimed ‘young players emerge with one good game but then struggle in their second, yet Rashford has played well twice so he is a special talent I think’. However, the arrival of such a young star brings around many questions.
Firstly, Rashford is now surrounded with media coverage due to his sublime start. How will he deal with this? Many young players arrive with a bang and fade away, a certain Federico Macheda springs to mind. Van Gaal has urged the press to not ‘harass’ Rashford as the Dutchman knows what a shame it would be if the raw striker took too much liking to the lime-light.
The former Flecther Moss Youth does however have special talent separating him from ‘Macheda’s category’. As oppose to the Birmingham City striker, Rashford’s goals have all been first time finishes, highlighting his awareness and composure in front of goal while the post game discussion about him was not about his goals. Arsene Wenger noticed his ‘deliberate movements in the box’ as oppose to the two times he stuck the ball in the back of the net. This ‘deliberate movement’ hints at a natural talent that only a few in the world have. If Rashford can keep focused, like Pogba or Welbeck, not Ravel Morisson, then the natural instinct in the box will see him answer his critics.
Another question targets Van Gaal’s long term position if he sticks with Rashford. The Dutch manager has had a stern say on the strikers at his disposal since arriving in summer 2014. Hernandez and Welbeck were shown the door by Van Gaal and both have had good times at their current clubs. Hernandez has been named Player Of The Month three consecutive times in the Bundesliga while Welbeck knocked United out of the FA Cup last season. James Wilson, who was one of the only fit strikers on the books at United was kept out on loan at Brighton during their striker crisis while Will Keane hasn’t featured much since his return from a loan spell.
Van Gaal, surprisingly, found use for Rashford who has repaid the faith shown in him. Yet, as demonstrated by the lack of use of the aforementioned group of strikers, Van Gaal can be picky with his front men which could be damaging to the growth of Rashford. It’s a certainty that the young man has a dip in form, and if he’s still in the team when this rut comes around, it leaves Van Gaal with a tricky situation. Does he stick with his progidy? Or does he remove Rashford from the first team picture and return Rooney into the number 9 position. Choosing the first option may aid Rashford yet it will lead to definite criticism from the stands as people question why an 18-year-old is playing for the Red Devils. The second option would be a major blow to the confidence of United’s youngest European scorer as it is made apparent that Van Gaal has no faith in Rashford to turn his form around.]
Another question that begs for an answer. Why is an 18-year-old up front? The lack of quality United have had leading their line since the days of Tevez may be the reason they are no longer leading the Premier League table. Last season, Rooney finished top scorer with 14 while Van Persie and Falcao managed that figure between them. A striker at United should be getting 20+ goals a season and a goal scorer of that quality has become non-existent at Old Trafford. Whether Rashford is this natural goal scorer that the fans crave so much it remains to be seen however a world class talent is definitely in need of purchase if the Red Devils in the summer to put their name in a title bid next season.
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