Rashford is still looking for role
Marcus Rashford has proved with England that he has all the qualities required to be a consistent attacking threat – but his task now is to replicate that form for Manchester United.
Rashford impressed as England beat Croatia 2-1 last Sunday to secure a place in June’s Nations League Finals, yet there is no guarantee he will start when Manchester United host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday. That is because manager Jose Mourinho is still wrestling with the question of how best to fit Rashford into his team, an issue that does not appear to be a problem at international level.
England manager Gareth Southgate, having switched from the 3-52 system he used at the World Cup to a more attacking 4-3-3 set-up, has started to use Rashford on the left of a front three, with Raheem Sterling on the right and Harry Kane in the centre.
It is an approach that is working well for Southgate, with Rashford outstanding as England won 3-2 in Spain last month before using his pace to good effect against Croatia to create danger on the counterattack. But to secure the left-sided attacking role at United, Rashford will need to force his way past Anthony Martial, whose current form is as good as anything shown during his three years at Old Trafford. The France forward has been consistently better than his England rival since the start of last season, with 15 goals to Rashford’s nine in the Premier League.
Mourinho has also been impressed with the way Martial has begun to understand better his defensive responsibilities, meaning Rashford will probably need to find a role elsewhere. For now, the centre-forward position does not appear to be the answer for Rashford, even though that was where he played initially when making his debut under Louis van Gaal in February 2016. —AFP