Advantage Mbappe as Rashford trails in the wake of French prodigy
ONE cost £160million, the other walked in free from Fletcher Moss Rangers, but Kylian Mbappe and Marcus Rashford are on a similar path. The temptation to merge their stories into a “new wave” narrative was bound to follow their joint appearance at Old Trafford.
In the extreme version, Mbappe, 20, and Rashford, 21, are being rushed up the line to become Europe’s next megastar forwards.
Rashford should not take offence when we say Mbappe is much further down that line, and not only because of his World Cup winner’s medal. His goal, on the hour mark, not only exposed United’s suspect defence for the second time but showed Mbappe at his lethal, opportunistic best.
Manchester United’s No 10 bristles with ability. But Mbappe possesses a weapon no young player can match: not just speed across the ground, but a kind of electric urgency that can stun defenders through sudden bursts of activity.
To say Mbappe is “fast” is inadequate. It merely suggests quick feet. His ability to flash into space is a spectacle in itself. He is superbly agile.
For the first half-hour here he was mostly peripheral, as if surveying the scene, but when the ignition came on it shocked the eye. First he burst on to a Julian Draxler pass without being able to curl his shot round David de Gea; then he accelerated past Ashley Young with such velocity that United’s rightback could only pull him down by the arm. After the break, Victor Lindelof fell back on the same restraining tactic.
For United, who had won 10 out of 11 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, this return to Europe’s centre stage had the potential to show up weaknesses in their squad. One was defence, a fear confirmed when Presnel Kimpembe slipped past Nemanja Matic at the far post to open the scoring for Paris St-Germain – moments after an Mbappe header had been stopped low by De Gea.
PSG strode into the northern lights without their brand leader, Neymar, and older star, Edinson Cavani, who injured his hip at the weekend. But no load is too heavy for Mbappe, only the second teenager, after Pele in 1958, to score in a World Cup final.
Mbappe’s performance against Croatia in Moscow reverberated around the globe. In Russia there was a palpable sense of the next great football idol declaring himself on a stage that tests talent and temperament under the gaze of all the world’s eyes.
Paul Pogba said of Mbappe in a match-day interview: “What’s so special is that he’s maybe 20 and plays like he’s 27 – and 27 is when you have a lot of experience. He understands the game and that is the difference between him and the other young, top talented players. You think about Thierry Henry, Ronaldo – he’s this kind of player, who can score goals, is very fast, can dribble, can make assists. He’s a player that is hard to block.”
Solskjaer was in no mood either to douse the Mbappe-Rashford comparisons.
“Mbappe had a fantastic rise to stardom and he’s got a fantastic smile about him; a great enthusiasm,” Solskjaer said. “And there will understandably be comparisons. I have seen Mbappe live once and Marcus every single day.
“Strikers don’t really dominate football but the pair of them will have a massive impression on football for the next 10 years. They will really light it up.”
Routine
Rashford has already shown with England – especially against Spain last autumn – that “stepping up” is routine to him, so there was no feeling of him being on trial in this round-of-16 first leg. Equally we could see the futility of comparing him directly with Mbappe – however graceful Rashford’s runs, however sharp his finishing.
United, too, lost two of their three forwards to injury – Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard – and Rashford’s performance in those circumstances was noticeably mature.
Old Trafford has seen some distinguished visitors down the years and Mbappe joins that band. His speed of thought and movement is such that there are times when defenders find him unplayable. Several United players tried to motor at the same pace as him and soon looked to be running through treacle.
Mbappe, who last week donated £27,000 to a fundraising appeal by the family of the missing pilot David Ibbotson, is not directly comparable to any of the great players of the last 30 years, which is part of the joy of watching him. With his speed comes precision. Taking off, his body acquires a kind of coiled menace. There is a beautiful human freedom to his talent. (© Daily Telegraph, London)