RAPID RASHFORD COULD RUN RIOT

I WENT to Manchester to watch my son’s Reading Under 21s take on United in February, and saw Marcus Rashford 10 days before he burst on to the scene. I was intrigued by his movement — he reminded me of a young Teddy Sheringham, but with pace! Teddy would move into spaces you couldn’t go as a defender, and Rashford has done this to good effect in the first team. He drops off deep and runs at defenders diagonally, forcing them to dive into a risky challenge. This tactic could work particularly well against Palace, who aren’t blessed with pace at the back. I AM never sure what to make of Alan Pardew as a manager. I saw a graph of his results at Palace and it was so up and down it looked like something on a heart monitor! They seem to go on these amazing winning runs and then flatline for weeks at a time. They won 11 league games this season, nine of which came before January. From the turn of the year until April, they lost nine of 11 top-flight matches. He has certainly had his moments, but the fact is they finished this season 15th — just two places higher than where they were when he took over. There’s a general feeling that this is a Palace side on the up under Pardew (right) but the results don’t always back that up. MANCHESTER UNITED are certainly favourites, but there is a way Palace can win this game — and it involves Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha really turning up. When Palace lost at Old Trafford in the league last month, Bolasie didn’t play and United’s full backs looked relatively comfortable. We saw what he and Zaha can do during their semi-final win against Watford, and Alan Pardew’s side will be a different prospect today. Against Watford, Bolasie moved centrally and he looked even better there. Centre halves are usually slower than full backs, so someone as quick as Bolasie could do some real damage running at Chris Smalling and Daley Blind in the final.