NEIL MOXLEY Rash and burn: Jose’s high-risk youth policy

Follow us on Twitter: @peoplesport IT is now one year since Marcus Rashford’s week that was at Old Trafford.

Two goals against Danish middleweights Midtjylland were followed by two more against Premier League heavyweights Arsenal.

Rashford’s name was lit up in lights as Louis van Gaal span the wheel of fortune and it came up on red.

That set off a chain of events over the next four months which ended with the Manchester United teenager being the “go-to guy” when England boss Roy Hodgson needed a spark to extinguish the pesky Welsh in France.

It was la-la land. Or was it? Yes, it was.

Although Rashford’s sponsor, Van Gaal, was kicked out of the exit door before the ribbons on the FA Cup that he won against Crystal Palace had been removed, the news was not all bad.

In his place arrived Jose Mourinho – with a chip on his shoulder that didn’t require seasoning – boasting about how he gave youth a chance.

At an age when the majority of academy undergraduates haven’t even been allowed to carry the kit-box to the club coach, Rashford had Premier League goals to his credit, appearances in Europe and a cameo on the international stage for his country.

And all because he was given a platform by a cranky Dutchman with a lengthy injury list.

Unfortunately for the teen, since then he has been sacrificed on the altar of practicality.

Mourinho has reached a level of management where he is incapable of taking one for the team.

He cannot be blooding a starlet who may not shine on the big stage.

For, if you manage Real Madrid, with Florentino Perez breathing down your neck, or at Stamford Bridge with Roman Abramovich drumming his fingers into the armrest of his leather-upholstered chair, then you need results.

And, as the season has progressed, Rashford has found himself pushed further out of the picture.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is playing like a messenger from the Almighty that the player believes himself to be. Henrikh Mkhitaryan has found his feet after an early wobble and captain Wayne Rooney is a fall-back if things get really bad – or if the game needs winning, like last weekend in the League Cup final against Southampton.

Juan Mata i s showing Mourinho the form he r eserved f or Carlo Ancelotti, Andre VillasBoas and Rafael Benitez at Chelsea.

Most i mportantly, however, United’s boss is going out of his way to get a tune out of Anthony Martial.

Mourinho has bawled out the player’s agent in public and also, after the recent defeat of Watford, suggested that the striker was getting his reward f or effort in training.

Which leaves boy wonder Rashford where?

Antoine Griezmann is expected to pitch up in Manchester this summer. He must be some player if Harry Kane is Mourinho’s Plan B.

Unwise

And even if Rooney is winding down, it is difficult to see Rashford forcing his way past that little lot.

He started 10 games and has been pitched into battle 10 times from the bench, playing as many minutes this term as he managed in less than three months after his breakthrough.

It would be unwise for Manchester United to jettison the one player who has genuinely come through the ranks.

But, like lots of young players, Rashford needs to play. His prospects don’t seem to be improving at Old Trafford, but it would be unwise to sever ties altogether.

If Mourinho can arrange a season’s loan deal for Rashford, it may be best for all concerned.

United are being paid for his development elsewhere and the player will come back fitter, stronger, more experienced – and perhaps ready to become the striker he hinted at being last year.