Is there a place for Rashford as a regular starter?

[RedRonaldo]

I am struggling hard to understand why the manager insists on starting/playing him every game. Maybe because he prefer to have a pacy forward to attack on counter? If that’s the case I hope after Antony is in we would no longer need to see Rashford starting up front.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Needed keyhole surgery on the shoulder injury - muscle tear. Played through the pain for 9 months.

He also had a double-stress fracture in his back in the same year he sustained that injury. Wouldn't be surprised if these have severely hampered him. Playing through an injury for nine months doesn't sound like a good idea, whatsoever.

Wouldn't be surprised if the back injuries affected his ability to turn quickly.

So it must be Ole fault then? If it’s the case that playing him through injuries for 9 months has wrecked his career.

 

[Boondog]

So it must be Ole fault then? If it’s the case that playing him through injuries for 9 months has wrecked his career.

Sometimes with players it's nobody's fault. Sometimes the player is missing something.

But I think also that he is 24 and maybe he sees that it is time to take his game forward. He has a manager with a nice history of developing players who brings that discipline the team needed. Things could be aligned for him if he wants it badly enough and does the work. Though maybe that's the fan in me again going and giving the player the benefit of the doubt. So either way if he doesn't make a move this year he'll only need to blame himself.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Sometimes with players it's nobody's fault. Sometimes the player is missing something.

But I think also that he is 24 and maybe he sees that it is time to take his game forward. He has a manager with a nice history of developing players who brings that discipline the team needed. Things could be aligned for him if he wants it badly enough and does the work. Though maybe that's the fan in me again going and giving the player the benefit of the doubt. So either way if he doesn't make a move this year he'll only need to blame himself.

Well I mean there must be a club doc/Physio who is fully aware of his injuries, and would advice Ole not to play him through those 9 months as it might have long term implication to his career (which seems to be the case now). If Ole still decide against this, it must be Ole fault then.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I am struggling hard to understand why the manager insists on starting/playing him every game. Maybe because he prefer to have a pacy forward to attack on counter? If that’s the case I hope after Antony is in we would no longer need to see Rashford starting up front.

Not just that. A forward line that can both attack with pace but more importantly suffocate attacks in their half creating dangerous turnovers. Despite our attack being poor in the final third, the intensity off the ball yesterday was really good.

But I agree that Rashford as CF is hopefully an experiment that will end soon.

Ideally our CF options are Martial (when fit) and Ronaldo (in games where we don't need as much mobility).

To be honest the Rashford situation worries me. He's started working hard finally. But is that enough to give him a new contract worth around 180/200k per week? I'm wary of the club deciding "he's back" when his overall performances are still mediocre.

 

[GifLord]

Some still going on with the playing injured schtick? He hasn't lost his pace like Michael Owen did at 26.
He's just not good enough plain and simple.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Not just that. A forward line that can both attack with pace but more importantly suffocate attacks in their half creating dangerous turnovers. Despite our attack being poor in the final third, the intensity off the ball yesterday was really good.

But I agree that Rashford as CF is hopefully an experiment that will end soon.

Ideally our CF options are Martial (when fit) and Ronaldo (in games where we don't need as much mobility).

To be honest the Rashford situation worries me. He's started working hard finally. But is that enough to give him a new contract worth around 180/200k per week? I'm wary of the club deciding "he's back" when his overall performances are still mediocre.

That’s true. We have more intensity off the ball up front with pacy forward, but just that it seems Rashford can’t do anything else which makes our attack play suffers when we are in possession. Hopefully with introduction of Antony things will change.

 

[edcunited1878]

"Rashford saw himself as match-fit but not match-sharp. He wanted a run of games to sharpen his mind and told Solskjaer he would not be back to his best until he had three consecutive 90-minute performances. It never materialised and, when he made the same request to Rangnick, it was denied him again. Rangnick’s view was that an elite player should not need this kind of special treatment, especially when he was not playing well enough to stay in the team." - article from July 2022, The Athletic

He has nowhere to hide anymore. Excuses are over. He has competition at LF and CF. He's 4th choice on the right behind Antony, Sancho, Elanga. He probably won't start as much, but he has to embrace whatever role he's given because he can still contribute and whatever time he's given, he has to show quality for the WC.

 

[Bebestation]

Some still going on with the playing injured schtick? He hasn't lost his pace like Michael Owen did at 26.
He's just not good enough plain and simple.

Wrong.

Back injury effects things like balance and Gait. Which effects dribbling.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Still the weakest link

 

[kaku06]

Forget about footballing abilities for a second, he looks so unfit to me compared to other players. Does anyone else think that his rapid pace has just disappeared ? Whenever he is sprinting he looks slow and abit heavy not because of weight but because of poor fitness. He looks sluggish. Also, his stamina is dead too. What is he doing to himself ?

 

[amolbhatia50k]

That’s true. We have more intensity off the ball up front with pacy forward, but just that it seems Rashford can’t do anything else which makes our attack play suffers when we are in possession. Hopefully with introduction of Antony things will change.

Absolutely. He's just so basic on the ball.

"Rashford saw himself as match-fit but not match-sharp. He wanted a run of games to sharpen his mind and told Solskjaer he would not be back to his best until he had three consecutive 90-minute performances. It never materialised and, when he made the same request to Rangnick, it was denied him again. Rangnick’s view was that an elite player should not need this kind of special treatment, especially when he was not playing well enough to stay in the team." - article from July 2022, The Athletic

It's nothing to do with match sharpness or position. He's gone Deli Ali.

 

[Shiva87]

He's been very poor for a couple of seasons now. He looses the ball so much and is totally unaware of his surroundings.

His first touch seems to have become so poor, the ball bounces off him so many times. He's just booting some of his passes as well.

He is totally unrecognisable from the player who scored close to 20 goals in Ole's first full season.

I hope he gets his head right and focussed on improving game by game or he will be gone this time next season. Something tells me ETH will not stick with him the way Ole did.

 

[Borys]

Forget about footballing abilities for a second, he looks so unfit to me compared to other players. Does anyone else think that his rapid pace has just disappeared ? Whenever he is sprinting he looks slow and abit heavy not because of weight but because of poor fitness. He looks sluggish. Also, his stamina is dead too. What is he doing to himself ?

No, he is absolutely rapid. His pace is his last problem, the first one is he gives some effort only to foot races if he can run behind the defence. In every other aspect he's just not interested, be that pressing, going for headers etc. He needs a competition which will bring him to the bench. I can see him being second choice to all positions he can play very soon.

 

[VidaRed]

Can we convert into a full back ?

 

[fallengt]

Can we convert into a full back ?

Why? He doesn't even press nor track back

 

[Judas]

I think he was a bit better, but I still would bench him for a bit, he's not doing enough to start. Our lack of options don't help the situation though.

 

[GifLord]

Wrong.

Back injury effects things like balance and Gait. Which effects dribbling.

Have you not seen his game vs Liverpool? When we countered he looked fine even had a mazy run. Again it has nothing to do with any sort of injury he had. His decision making and technique are letting him down.
There's been many players in the past that peaked in the early 20s and their growth just stopped.

 

[eire-red]

Does now look like his best role would be coming on for Sancho with 20 minutes to go to be a threat on the counter. Martial and Ronaldo fight for the 9 shirt (again, probably better off with Martial for an hour or so and Cristiano for 30 as his legs have gone but he can still run a bit for 20-30), then Antony playing probably virtually every minute on the right with Bruno as his backup as Eriksen can play as a 10 and one of VDB, Fred or McTominay filling in centrally.

I do think in big games Rashford can bring something to the table, but from the left. Despite the terrible performances, he still has those quality moments, and as much as I almost don't want to say it, he can produce those moments of explosive quality. Ronaldo is the only other player that gives us that. Sancho seems to only flourish if the team is playing well.

It will be interesting to see the battle for that LW position. Antony is going to give us genuine threat on the right, so it should stretch the opposition and make things easier for both wings to function, because at the moment it seems we only have any real threat on the left when Elanga is playing, with the occasional overlap from Dalot.

 

[Volumiza]

Still the weakest link

And he's looking even worse now the team around him is improving. Last night really highlighted how poor he is playing regardless of the assist. He spoiled a good few attacks last night with just his overall sh*tness.

 

[Zed 101]

I will not try to defend how woeful Rashford has been for the last couple of seasons, however pretty much all of our players have been as bad.

Rashford had a significant injury to recover from coming back at a time when the team was showing terrible form, I do not think the issues around Greenwood or his laudable but distracting social work outside of football have helped with this.

ETH has at least got Rashford running again and building up some sort of form, we have seen more from him this season already.

I think if Rashford can get back to where he was 3 seasons ago and build from there he is up there with the best attacking players in the world, the lad has serious quality and pace to burn, how much would the Rashford of 3 seasons ago cost to buy? the lad is only 24 people writing him off need to sit back and give him a break, if you are going to judge him, do so fairly, for one I would rather have him than the anonymous after 40 minutes Sancho.

 

[ShoePolish]

He's got no grit to his game. Elanga is inferior player to him, but at least he has the aggression to fight. Rashy just lets his head down and walks away after he loses the ball, it's a trait on par with Lukaku's pointing, which is fecking infuriating.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

His attempts to win aerial duels are quite pathetic. Played well in the first half though I thought.

 

[Garethw]

Last night was probably the best match for him to grab a goal or two. He is just not good enough to play as a centre forward.

He doesn’t press, doesn’t hold the ball up and doesn’t score.

He should be the first player off the bench to replace Sancho and Anthony as a wide forward. He should not be starting games until he hits form.

 

[Garethw]

His attempts to win aerial duels are quite pathetic. Played well in the first half though I thought.

All of his key attributes relate to playing out wide and cutting in. Hopefully the centre forward experiment ends after last night.

 

[Sultan]

His attempts to win aerial duels are quite pathetic. Played well in the first half though I thought.

I think that goes for all our forwards. They're basically all wingers and lack aggression and don't stand a chance when faced with central defenders.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

To be honest the Rashford situation worries me. He's started working hard finally. But is that enough to give him a new contract worth around 180/200k per week? I'm wary of the club deciding "he's back" when his overall performances are still mediocre.

He's already on 200k. Any negotiations will be starting at 250k+. If we give him that sort of contract then we deserve everything we're going to get.

 

[Negative Red]

Surely the back injury excuse has expired by now? I'm not sure how that would effect his ability to try or think anyway. His lack of fight is just infuriating to watch, especially when that was one of his key attributes in his first couple of seasons.

 

[VidaRed]

He's already on 200k. Any negotiations will be starting at 250k+. If we give him that sort of contract then we deserve everything we're going to get.

Dalot is on 25k and some are saying we shouldn't increase his salary but they're turning a blind eye to rashford getting 10 times more.

 

[Dermott Walsh]

Looked way off it last night. Can see him coming off the bench alot if all forwards are fit.
Sancho-Martial-Anthony should be first choice front three.
Special mention for Elanga who has been putting in shifts at least which can't be said for Rashford. So good to have proper attacking options. Ronaldo/Rashford/Elanga/Garnacho and the three mentioned above gives proper depth to the front three.

 

[Judas]

He's not a striker, he's never truly shown in the first team that he has the ability for that role. Doesn't play for to his strengths and ends up looking an even more detached figure in the team.

Hopefully we can work on a fluid front three of him, Sancho and Antony, which may at least work a bit better.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He's already on 200k. Any negotiations will be starting at 250k+. If we give him that sort of contract then we deserve everything we're going to get.

My first worry was giving Pogba an extension. Common sense (maybe his) prevailed there. The next is Rashford's. He's on the sort of wages top top players get. If he can't be that then we should get rid. Effort is the bare minimum and we cannot pay for potential we once saw.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

I think that goes for all our forwards. They're basically all wingers and lack aggression and don't stand a chance when faced with central defenders.

Yeah stands out with Rashford as he should be the one most able to physically compete but he's a bit of a coward when it comes to physical contact and feigns competing when it's in the air

 

[Fabio Rochemback]

I wouldn't consider him as being in our best starting XI. He'll still start plenty of games over the course of the season and get ample opportunity to win his place back (on the left only, I never want to see him as a lone striker ever again if possible).

Unfortunately it's kind of hard to imagine that his form will improve so dramatically that we won't try to sign an upgrade next summer, which will either push him down the pecking order or out the door. He's been bad for way too long for it to just be a loss of form.

 

[ClosetDevil]

Dude's gonna be excellent once he finds a patch of form.

 

[Chip]

Dude's gonna be excellent once he finds a patch of form.

No white text?

 

[Hal9000]

I miss the old Rashford, the last two games were miserable to watch when you remember what he used to be about to do.

His first touch has gone completely, everytime he had the ball at the feet you thought he was going to beat a man, but I just count he just ran into players yesterday.

I think he'll lose his place when martial is fit and Anthony comes in. It's a shame, great guy but he needs to be the player he was when he was 19/20. He's a shade of that now.

 

[Beachryan]

He plays like he doesn't like playing football.

Seems psychological to me.

 

[cyberman]

If Martial is always injured he’ll get plenty of starts rotating with Ronaldo. Which means Elanga is the cover for each wing.
Get used to it!

 

[pablopablo]

After yesterday's horrible 2nd half performance I started to wonder if there is some pressure from our club to have Rashford playing as much as possible because they (board?) want him to play at the World Cup? I don't think he'd still be on the pitch that long in other club with hungry player like Garnacho on the bench. When Mourinho left United he said 'people don’t know what is going on behind the scenes' and I am just wondering if this is one of those situations.