WHY HAS RASHFORD’S X-FACTOR GONE MISSING?
IT does not say much for the grown-ups in his midst that it is now being asked whether Marcus Rashford is a true goalscorer. He looked like one when he broke into the Manchester United team in February 2016 at the age of 18. Rashford scored four goals in his first two games, he scored the winner in the Manchester derby, he scored on his England debut that May. He was considered the future — a fixture for England in the years to come. What does it say of the managers he worked
with since those glorious beginnings — Louis van Gaal, Roy Hodgson, Jose Mourinho — that his scoring prowess is now being called into question? In defence of Gareth Southgate, Rashford looks at his liveliest with England these days. Yet, undoubtedly, the X-factor is missing. The teenage Rashford would have buried at least one of the chances he spurned against Spain on Saturday. What has shaken that self-belief? Aren’t the best coaches supposed to improve their charges? Rashford was better raw.