RASHFORD TAKES SUB WAY TO THE WORLD CUP
JOSE MOURINHO insists Marcus Rashford’s World Cup hopes will not be wrecked by his lack of action for Manchester United.
With the tournament three months away, England boss Gareth Southgate is known to be concerned the striker is not playing enough. Rashford – set to be a substitute again for tonight’s trip to Crystal Palace – has made just 13 league starts this season, his last being on Boxing Day.
Since then, he has been on the pitch at kick-off only twice – against lower-league opponents in the FA Cup – and has had to be content with cameo roles from the bench.
Southgate is still set to pick him for next month’s friendlies against Holland and Italy, although he is worried by the amount of time the 20-year-old is spending on the sidelines.
But Mourinho, who met Southgate at United’s training complex on Friday, said Rashford’s World Cup fate will ultimately come down to how much trust the England boss has in him, not how many games he starts for the Reds.
“Sometimes I see it’s in doubt if he’s going to be selected for the World Cup,” said Mourinho. “You know, if the national coach trusts him, he selects him.
“It doesn’t matter if he plays or doesn’t play. There are many examples of players who don’t play for their clubs at all and they go to the national teams. You have the example of Sergio Romero, who is the second goalkeeper at Manchester United and the first goalkeeper for such an amazing football country like Argentina.
“In your own country, you have examples of players who play even without scoring a goal in the Premier League.
“So it’s up to Gareth. If he trusts him, he selects him. It doesn’t matter if he plays or if he doesn’t play for Manchester United.
“I don’t reassure anyone. The main reassurance for him is that he’s always selected.
“There’s not one single match when Marcus is not selected to start or to be on the bench.”
Rashford, who burst on to the scene in February 2016 with two goals on his United debut, has been forced into a supporting role since the turn of the year.
The signing of Alexis Sanchez pushed him out of the picture, while Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata moved ahead of him in the selection pecking order.
But Mourinho said there was no reason for Rashford (above, with Southgate) to be worried and pointed to his involvement in every matchday squad this season when fit as proof of his enduring value. “At his age, what he’s doing is more than enough and the experience he’s getting at every level is more than enough for us to be happy with what we think is going to be his future,” he said. “But because he had such an impact at the beginning, probably people expect him to play even more than he does, and score even more than he does and perform even more than he does, but it’s not so simple.
“Marcus is a fantastic boy, very grounded. For sure, we love him and we believe in him, and he’s going to have the chances.”
“I don’t know the numbers, how many starts and how many times from the bench he’s been in every competition.
“But the good thing with Marcus is he can play in the three attacking positions, so even when he doesn’t start, to have him on the bench is such a security for me and for the team. “For example, against Chelsea, he was going to play. If the result was 1-1, he was going to come on for the last 15 minutes, then we scored and Antonio [Conte] put Morata together with Giroud and made me change my initial decision.
‘‘But he was going to play and he’s a fantastic option for us.”