Manchester United Football Club lost their first game of the season at the weekend, as Jose Mourinho got it tactically wrong against their fiercest of rivals in the form of Manchester City. They improved in the second half, and that was down to the introduction of Marcus Rashford, the 18-year-old starlet who has been at the top of his game to start the season.
The young man from Wythenshawe is yet to start a competitive game under the self-proclaimed Special One, but that is about to change this coming Thursday. Jose has already confirmed that he’ll name Rashford in his starting line-up to take on Feyenoord as United’s Europa League campaign begins.
You’d imagine the man sitting the game out will be Zlatan Ibrahimovic, meaning the England striker will get the chance to prove his worth as the central striker; and it’s an opportunity the young forward has to grasp with both hands if he is to earn a starting spot on a regular basis.
We all know just how important pace is in the modern game, and when you couple that with Rashford’s supreme ability to finish the ball exquisitely, Manchester United seem to have a real hero in the making on their hands.
Europa League football is where it all started for the young man. Cast your mind back to February, and Anthony Martial picked up a knock in the pre-match warm-up for the second leg of United’s tie against FC Midtjylland. United name the relatively unknown Marcus Rashford as his replacement. He started the game and bagged a terrific brace to put his team through into the next round.
Jose Mourinho isn’t usually one to put his faith in youth, and although Rashford is young, he has already been proven to be able to cope with the immense pressure – and that’s probably why he has no issue with putting trust in him in to start against Feyenoord this coming Thursday.
It presents Marcus Rashford with a massive opportunity to repeat his heroics from last season, and try to cement a place in the starting XI for the bread and butter of the Premier League. He’s clearly capable of doing it, and his second-half performance in the Manchester derby backs that point up.
He has to make it impossible for Jose Mourinho to leave him out of games, and you feel the teenager is well on the way to doing so. He scored a last minute winner against Hull, has struck fear into opposing defences when given the opportunity and you just know he’ll do the same again against Feyenoord.
Marcus Rashford is one hell of a footballer, and although English football fans are often guilty of hyping players up far too much, you feel it is justified in the case of a certain Mancunian.
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