Jesus no this makes no sense. You do realize no one that evaluates a performance in these threads is sending fecking hate mail to Rashys flat about his last match right? I’m not DMing the guy after last night giving him advice on how to up his game, I’m discussing it with other fans on a forum made for discussing United football. I try not to let emotions cloud judgement on watching a player in an individual game either. Also said nothing about how he needs to play like Messi, you’re putting words in my mouth.
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Bottom line is this place is extremely reactionary either way, and I’d like to see more discussion in the middle as it makes for more interesting content.
Amen to that.
I also think, that Rashford deserves the same treatment as every other player in the team. That includes criticizing him where one feels it is due. I think, his development stalled this year (I even tend to say it went backwards a bit). When he entered the scene he was such a good finisher, then he added some insane speed dribbling and nice trickery into his game. Last year we even saw glimpses of what he can offer when trying to facilitate for others. All that accompanied by workrate and bite, willingness to make runs and taking on players. Where he fell short has been his decision making and partly his overeagerness to force things.
This year we still see runs, we still see some trickery but his finishing ability seems to have crashed (same could be said for Martial as well). His decision making is back to a bad level, so often he is dribbling head down into a bunch of defenders, it is infuriating. Just as much as his (shared with Greenwoods) tendency to always look for a way to finish a move, rarely thinking first about how to facilitate one for others. He might play with a knock, he might struggle with the amount of games - all could be factors but I hesitate to really validate them. He is playing as he is playing now most of the season, I remember no game where he was man of the match individually due to an overall good display. He, together with Bruno, was the only player who really could be considered as being in form (leaning output wise, not performance) and the two players bailed us out often and credit to him (them) for doing it, but it should be noted, that there doesn't seem to be some sort of development. He just continues to do the same things while the environment has changed, teams approach games against us differently. As Bruno, I get often the feeling that he seems to think he has to force it and I get it, that is something that goes away with experience but at some point the manager has to step in to provide some guidance for a very talented player that seems to have reached some sort of plateau.
Without wanting to add another factor in an already bloated equasion: I think, Rashford would be one of the players to really benefit from having a less radical play-striker-in-asap- approach as we use it now (preferably). His dribbling is good but not good enough to handle two or more opponents, if we could create situations more often, where he could isolate a defender and then has not only one available option ("Shoot somehow") but also the willingness to cross (the will and some colleagues in position to cash-in a good cross) than we would be way better off. I also tend to feel that Rashford and Greenwood should improve their use of the space of the pitch - I get that inverted winger thing and I know they are strikers but damn it, if they play where they play they have to be taught, that drifting to the inside !!everytime!! makes the pitch smaller and smaller and their tasks of penetrating a defense even more difficult.
I know all this talk of better players, having an "actual RW", an "very good DM to be able to pair Pogba and Bruno" or the same that goes for a CB, but I don't think, that this is a factor, that should make the task of evaluating a player as hard as some are making it out to be. Better team mates are positive for every player, it is a zero sum argument. It is an argument when thinking about the team as a whole, but not when trying to evaluate a player.