Good, bad and snugly — Rashford earns his hug
Frustrating United star wins over Mourinho
FROM a cold shoulder and a turned back to a warm hug and a few sweet nothings in the ear. A strange few days indeed in the on-off romance of Jose Mourinho and Marcus Rashford.
And yet it has gone on like this for more than a few days and will go on for far more. Their relationship seems destined to always be a little odd, much like that of Mourinho and Luke Shaw, an undulating tale of provocation and response that is simultaneously horrible to watch and yet quite often very understandable.
You might want to blame Mourinho, to question the extreme and perverse nature of his man management, but still find yourself agreeing, if not with the whole charade of Tuesday, when he turned around in belittling wonderment at a Rashford miss, but certainly on the sentiment behind it. And that is because, in essence, Rashford is immensely frustrating, and if it is frustrating for you, just imagine how it must be for the man whose job partially depends on him.
This was one of those games that bundled the whole narrative and saga into one performance. The good, the bad, the carelessness and the brilliance, taking in one goal for Southampton and two for Manchester United, before he left the field and was given the warmest of hugs by his manager.
In truth he deserved it. His two assists were brilliant, but to access those moments, first we had to see the other side.
He had fingerprints on Southampton’s second goal, for example. Not so much for the foul on Mario Lemina from which Cedric nailed the free-kick but more in the act that i mmediately preceded i t, whereby his loose touch necessitated the challenge. A cleaner touch means no decision for Kevin Friend to make and you sense that Mourinho will feel the same way.
That being said, he isn’t there predominantly for his defensive contributions. The greater sin still seems to be the erratic nature of his finishing and with it is the persistent sense that you cannot rely on him to bury the one good chance that might come his way at an important moment. This game didn’t offer up that kind of killer opportunity, and yet it did involve one first-half shot from a nice central spot that went so far over the bar that Southampton fans laughed en masse. Eyes quickly turned to Mourinho but he was more discreet with his feelings this time, likewise when a sloppy attempt at a one-two on the edge of Saints’ area turned a United attack into something more frantic at the other end.
By that stage, with more than half an hour played, Rashford’s game was turning into a vindication of Mourinho’s gripes. Like his teammates, he had been weak.
But from that mess came the resurrection and key in it all was Rashford. His level rose and from it came two assists that deserve enormous credit.
In the first instance, 33 minutes in, the assisting pass to Romelu Lukaku followed a body-to-body collision with Maya Yoshida. Giving away eight kilos and around 10cm in height, that shouldn’t be a contest. But Rashford emerged with the ball from which United had their lifeline.
Now reconsider some words from Mourinho eight days earlier that were used as a challenge to his younger players. ‘ We’re talking about Luke Shaw, Martial, Lingard, Rashford — young, big potential, but at the end of the day it results in the word I cannot say but you use it a lot here… character, personality, they lack a little.’
Maybe the manager deserves credit — maybe the strategy of coercion worked. Or maybe he was just wrong about the willpower of a player who was having a bad night here and was still able to extract game-changing contributions from himself. That is a footballing definition of personality.
The second assist was no less impressive, but more for a demonstration of the talents that are hard to dispute. The sheer pace and touch needed to beat two men and outrun a third was quite something and the delivery from the byline to Ander Herrera at the near post wasn’t too shabby either.
Granted, two assists doesn’t make a mockery of his manager. But it is equally obvious that those who persist in criticising the player are overlooking the skills in his arsenal. With any luck a day will come soon when they consistently outweigh the other stuff.