Rashford cuts forlorn figure under Mourinho
There was a pang of regret, postmatch, in reading Jesse Lingard’s assessment of his friend and Manchester United team-mate, Marcus Rashford.
“He’s young and he can be anything he wants to be,” Lingard commented in the FA Cup final match programme as he gave the rundown on the squad. “He might not have played as much as he would have liked to this season, but when he has played or when he’s come on, he’s made an impact.”
Both Rashford and Lingard were hauled off together before the end of United’s defeat by Chelsea. Both looked dispirited and beaten and both deserved the hook.
The concern for United – and for England – is that while Lingard has flourished under Jose Mourinho the same cannot be said of Rashford, who appears bereft of touch, confidence and that vigour and exciting belief he brought to the team when he made his breakthrough.
Rashford’s style does not appear to suit Mourinho, and Southgate has work to do ahead of Russia.
Rashford has made 35 Premier League outings this season, including 17 starts. But such has been the sense of marginalisation under Mourinho that it feels like he has been pushed out to the edges, which is where he instinctively, and largely unproductively, headed on the Wembley pitch.
Rashford was one of United’s brightest stars when Mourinho arrived. He is a local player who brought renewed pride in United’s ability to develop talent during a tricky time for the club. It was said that a test of the suitability of the new manager was how he dealt with Rashford.
There have been murmurings that Rashford is not happy at United, that he may even want out. And he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders at Wembley, where he appeared a Lukaku-lite, asked to be the battering ram centre-forward that Mourinho prefers in the absence of the Belgium international – whom the manager later suggested had absented himself from starting. Another United player thrown under the bus?
Of course Rashford has to take responsibility for his own displays despite his youth, such is the 20-year-old’s reputation.
But was it really necessary for Mourinho to be so critical of him following the recent defeat at Brighton? Rashford was not named, but it was clear who Mourinho meant when he said: “The players that replaced others did not perform at a good level and when individuals do that it is difficult for the team to play well. Maybe now you will not ask me why A, B and C do not play so much.” Rashford lacked support, and criticism of United’s display ought to concentrate on their big names: Alexis Sanchez and, until he finally woke up, Paul Pogba. Mourinho seems unwilling to adapt to help his young striker. Rashford is not Lukaku, so when the manager later said: “I knew that without a target man it would be difficult for us,” he should take responsibility. Maybe Sanchez should have played through the middle, because it is a role that is asking a lot of Rashford even if he craves it. When Rashford mishit an attempted pass, Mourinho reacted furiously, and this kind of stuff transmits itself out on the pitch – where United feel inhibited, shackled and unable to play with any sense of risk or creativity. Antonio Conte knew it, also. His trap was set and United did not have the guile to sidestep it. Mourinho complained that he was facing a “team so predictable it is easy to adapt to it”. But that betrayed a remarkable lack of self-awareness.
It was so easy? So why did he fall into that trap? He knew Eden Hazard could be the match-winner, but he could not stifle him during a first half in which the forward drew a fine save from David de Gea and then won and converted the penalty that made the difference.
After half-time United were far better and far more urgent, but why did not they try to capitalise on Chelsea’s uncertainty, and the expectation that this would be Conte’s last game in charge, to press home the advantage?
Once in front, Chelsea defended superbly: it was something of a masterclass. They defended in a way that Mourinho would have done, with outstanding performances from Antonio Rudiger, the resurgent Gary Cahill and the midfield shield of N’golo Kante.
And they deserved this victory despite opportunities being spurned by Pogba, with a header, and Rashford, with a shot which was parried by Thibaut Courtois, while Sanchez had a ‘goal’ correctly ruled out for offside.
And so it was the first time that Mourinho had lost a domestic cup final in England and the first that Conte had won. One manager is, more than likely, going, and the other will stay. But whatever the arguments, this has not been a good season for Mourinho – and not least for the way Rashford has failed to progress under him.
Chelsea
Subs
Booked Manchester United
Subs Booked Referee