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2015-16 Performances


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Jed I. Knight

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He means he shouldn't be playing week in week out, he's not ready to be the first choice centre forward for club and country.
Thanks. Seems a bit strange. As long as he plays and delivers more than the options are likely to do, he should be playing. If he hits a rough patch, rotate him out.
 

KM

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Jesus christ, the article mentions that Ronaldo, Sterling, Rooney and Bale's agents all want to sign him. Also says that he's expected to sign a 15k p/w contract soon.

That's some rise to fame.
 

Trizy

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Keep forgetting his 18, he's very mature on the pitch like Martial. We've some pair on youngsters on our hands. Finally, something positive came out of the absolute terrible few seasons post-fergie. Luke Shaw, 20, was comfortably the best LB in the league too before injury and TFM looks a right gem too. That could be our core should they all reach full potential.
 

pascell

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Jesus christ, the article mentions that Ronaldo, Sterling, Rooney and Bale's agents all want to sign him. Also says that he's expected to sign a 15k p/w contract soon.

That's some rise to fame.
Any of those agents and we're gonna get rinsed for wages. Not too keen on Mendes and especially Sterling's agent, they'd probably try and turn his head to other clubs if we fail to achieve anything in the next few seasons.
 

ricky-romeo

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20 years ago was also the same thing in term of players need agent for negotiation with clubs, it's about money. The difference is people like Gary Neville, Scholes and Giggs are only care about playing for one same club only not wages. It's understandable if youngster nowdays want money. But I hope Rashford isn't one of them.
yup. it would be good to have players who cares about playing for united first. money second.

we can only hope.
 

VorZakone

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Keep forgetting his 18, he's very mature on the pitch like Martial. We've some pair on youngsters on our hands. Finally, something positive came out of the absolute terrible few seasons post-fergie. Luke Shaw, 20, was comfortably the best LB in the league too before injury and TFM looks a right gem too. That could be our core should they all reach full potential.
Exciting youngsters indeed.
 

Drainy

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1/2

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport...e?shareToken=857a689e38d7683521d40c1c53b06693

‘Everyone else was asleep but Marcus was doing sit-ups and press-ups’

Oliver Kay talks to former teachers, coaches and even the local takeaway owner about Manchester United’s boy wonder before this evening’s FA Cup semi-final against Everton at Wembley

February 25, 2016. Marcus Rashford is at the Manchester United team hotel, dining with the first-team squad before their Europa League encounter with Midtjylland. He is told that he will be on the substitutes’ bench. He calls home to tell his mother. She asks if she should make her way down to Old Trafford. “No,” he tells her. “I won’t get on.”

To his shock — not to mention his mother’s — Rashford is drafted into the starting line-up after Anthony Martial is injured in the warm-up. The 18-year-old scores twice on his debut and, for what feels like the first time all season, the United crowd have something to cheer about.

His mother, Melanie, cannot believe she missed his biggest moment, but she is overjoyed when he comes home. He is all over the next day’s papers — “all over them like a Rash”, to borrow from a popular red-top headline. Louis van Gaal tells him to keep his feet on the ground.

Three days later he makes his Barclays Premier League debut at home to Arsenal. He scores twice again, this time with his mother in attendance. “It’s unbelievable,” says a delighted Van Gaal.

Rashford’s sudden, spectacular emergence feels like a throwback to another age — stuff out of Roy of the Rovers, you may call it, a refreshing break from the stifling reality faced by so many young English footballers trying to make the grade with their local team.

Some wondered if he might be a flash in the pan, but no, the Rashford bandwagon has kept going. He has scored seven goals, some of them crucial or spectacular or both, in 13 first-team appearances for United, been proposed as a possible wild-card pick for England at Euro 2016 and, before he commits to a new contract worth tens of thousands of pounds a week, he has several of the sport’s most powerful agents — including Jorge Mendes, who works with José Mourinho, among many others — scrambling for the right to represent him. This evening brings an FA Cup semi-final against Everton at Wembley and, yes, his mother will be there. Rashford and his family are living the dream.

When Wayne Rooney made his debut for Everton as a 16-year-old in 2002, he and his family were still living in a council house in Croxteth, one of Merseyside’s toughest districts. Times have changed. Long before Rashford made his breakthrough into the United team, the teenager and his family had moved from Wythenshawe — the sprawling district where Shameless was filmed — to a five-bedroom detached house on a quiet road in Ashton-on-Mersey, just around the corner from the school (with an “outstanding” Ofsted rating) where, as part of his United scholarship, he spends Monday mornings and Thursdays studying for BTEC diplomas in business studies and sport.

Button Lane, Wythenshawe, is only three miles away, but it feels like a different world. “They moved away a few years ago,” a former neighbour says. “They still own the house here, but they rent it out now. You still see Marcus back here from time to time, but the family are sensible. They didn’t want to be around all this.”

“All this” is not easy to identify on a sunny April afternoon. Button Lane, in Northern Moor, might not be as quaint as it sounds, but nor does it appear as it did in The Duchess On The Estate, in which the Duchess of York paid an extended visit and portrayed it as the epitome of Broken Britain — “very sinister”, “these guys come out with their mobiles and knives as an accessory”, “that chap with the gun, it’s terrifying, it looks like a movie”.

Terrifying or not, Wythenshawe was a step up for Rashford and his family. Initially he had been brought up on the border of Withington and Moss Side in the midst of some localised but very troubling gang crime. “His mum was very shrewd,” says Dave Horrocks, academy development manager at Fletcher Moss Rangers, the youth team where Rashford first caught United’s eye as a seven-year-old. “There were problems where they were living and she was able to see how things might pan out if they stayed. She got them moved away and out of the firing line, so to speak. Compared to where he had been before, Northern Moor was quite affluent.”
“His mum is a diamond,” a family friend says. “His parents split up when he was quite young, but his mum always looked after the kids and kept them on the straight and narrow.”

Another consequence of that move was to take him from Manchester City territory — close to Maine Road and what was then their school of excellence at Platt Lane — to United territory. “He was being courted by both of them,” Horrocks says. “And because he was football-mad, he would train with United one night and City the next. The family didn’t have a car and, whereas City was on his doorstep, it was difficult for him to get to United, which was on the other side of town, so I sometimes used to pick him up and take him there.”

What was he like as a kid? “I couldn’t get two words out of him,” Horrocks says. “He was very shy, very quiet, but very focused.”

Simon Pyne, a teacher at Button Lane Primary School, is casting his mind back to a school trip to the Lake District — abseiling, canoeing, that sort of thing. “Even at that age, ten or eleven, Marcus was just so dedicated,” he says. “He would be up before the staff in the mornings, doing press-ups and sit-ups, preparing for the big time. He was already signed up with United by then and you could tell he wanted it so much.”

Pyne feels that Rashford’s focus, as well as the influence of his mother and older siblings, helped him to avoid some familiar pitfalls. “There were other boys of his age who went down other paths, if I can put it like that,” the teacher says. “He did extremely well to remain as motivated and dedicated as he was, considering some of the peers he had. His mum made sure of that. She pushed him, school-wise as well as football-wise. He had things to aim for from a very early age and he has absolutely made the most of that. Children don’t always have that.”

“You don’t have a crystal ball, so you never know for sure,” Horrocks says, back at Fletcher Moss Rangers, “but Marcus is one of those whose talent shone through straightaway. He scored 12 goals in one game. He was greedy with the ball, always looking to dribble and shoot. That’s not a criticism. We encourage them to dribble and shoot at that age because that’s what they enjoy. You work on the passing later. He was always hungry for the ball. Even when he was walking here with his brothers, Dwaine and Dane, he would be dribbling a ball all the way here or balancing it on his head.”

He quickly came to United’s attention. “I had him from under-7s to under-10s,” Phil Brogan, a former academy coach at United, says. “He was a great mover. He scored goals, but at that age it was more about what he did on the ball — he was quick, great skills, great technique. He was like a Brazilian player, the way he dribbled. The way we coached them, particularly once René Meulensteen came in, was about taking risks, expressing themselves – no fear. That was Marcus. He was a happy kid, always with the ball at his feet.”
 

Drainy

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At that time, the player causing most excitement in United’s academy — among everyone, from Sir Alex Ferguson down — was another Fletcher Moss Rangers graduate from Wythenshawe. Ravel Morrison was four and a half years Rashford’s senior, but his talent was undermined by a complex personality and a perceived susceptibility to trouble and “the wrong crowd”. At 23 he is at Lazio, but his career has been unravelling for some time.

“Marcus’s family kept him away from the negative influences that Ravel couldn’t get away from,” Horrocks says. “The best listeners are the best learners. Of the many players from Fletcher Moss who have made it into professional football, Ravel was the only one who wasn’t a listener. He got where he got to through pure talent. Marcus had talent, but, like Danny Welbeck, he was a listener. He would take on board whatever was said to him.”

Morrison’s development was characterised by peaks and troughs in mood and performance. Rashford’s progress through United’s academy was serene. The only worry he caused United was when City came calling again around his 16th birthday. City were determined to sign the one who got away, but Rashford stayed put. He felt he was on course for where he wanted to be.

Last season Rashford scored 13 goals in 27 appearances for United’s under-18 team — a promising return, but not enough to see him fast-tracked to the under-21s, let alone the senior squad. He made his debut for the under-21s only in September, but within two months he had been given a first-team squad number and named as a substitute for a Premier League game away to Watford. Nicky Butt, now United’s head of academy, showed him clips of Ruud van Nistelrooy to teach him how to learn to be in the right place at the right time. Rashford took all the advice on board and started to score regularly for the under-21s. The big time was getting closer, even if the thought of regular first-team football for United still seemed distant.

That unscheduled debut against Midtjylland in February, brought about by a severe injury crisis, changed everything. Ferguson often said that you needed to test young players in the first team before you could be sure whether they would sink or swim. Rashford has done more than swim. He has quickly soared to heights that few, even at United, expected.

“I always thought he had the talent and the right attitude, but he has added different things to his game,” Brogan says. “He was a winger in those early days, but he has developed into a really good centre forward. He’s had a growth spurt, which helps, and he looks good in the air now. His finishing is so calm. One thing I would say is that people haven’t seen much of his skills and tricks yet. I’m sure that will change as his confidence grows. He’s a great talent. He can be anything he wants to be.”

Something that everybody says about Rashford is that he wants to optimise his talent. He does not want to be a flash in the pan, an eight-week wonder. Van Gaal has been consistent not only in selecting him but with a mantra about the need to stay humble, work hard and keep improving. Rashford’s family, particularly his older brothers, have rallied around to try to protect him from Manchester’s bright lights and the perennial problems of hangers-on. That includes the dilemma over whether to enlist the help of an agent to negotiate his first big contract or whether to continue to look after his affairs with help from Welbeck’s brothers.

Rashford is said to have remained gloriously unaffected. The morning after his two goals against Arsenal he could be found in the sixth-form common room at Ashton-on-Mersey School. A few weeks ago he could be seen back on Button Lane with friends. “He came in for a chicken patty or some fried chicken,” Hemen Farouq, at J’s Rhythm takeaway, says. “He’s a nice guy, a good guy, the same as he was when he was living over the road.”
 

Devil81

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I went to Button lane primary, the area is nowt special but it certainly isn't the bronx.

I will also be getting a curry from J's rhythm later.
 

the hea

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Anyone else starting to think that we might not need to sign a new striker this summer due to the rise of Rashford?
Martial, Rashford and Rooney could do the job next season if Rashford keeps on performing and Rooney's form doesn't deteriorate further. I'm starting to think that it might be worth a gamble and it would also mean we can spend more money to strengthen other positions in the team.
 

BarstoolProphet

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Anyone else starting to think that we might not need to sign a new striker this summer due to the rise of Rashford?
Martial, Rashford and Rooney could do the job next season if Rashford keeps on performing and Rooney's form doesn't deteriorate further. I'm starting to think that it might be worth a gamble and it would also mean we can spend more money to strengthen other positions in the team.

Well, Rooney is our worst striker yet plays every game he's fit so he needs to be replaced this summer. But Rashford is first name on the teamsheet for me now. Long may it continue.
 

ZAGREB RED

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Would love to see him carry on his great form and get a goal or two today to help fire United into the Final, he is a breath of fresh air at times. The goal at West Ham in the QF was an absolute beauty.
 

NinjaFletch

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Anyone else starting to think that we might not need to sign a new striker this summer due to the rise of Rashford?
Martial, Rashford and Rooney could do the job next season if Rashford keeps on performing and Rooney's form doesn't deteriorate further. I'm starting to think that it might be worth a gamble and it would also mean we can spend more money to strengthen other positions in the team.
Honestly, its why I'm on board with Ibra. Cart Rooney off to the Travellers yard, get in Ibrahimovic for a couple of seasons, rotate him with Rashford whilst he's young, malleable, and does not need to be over-burdened then ship Ibra off to the MLS in 2018 when Rashford is 20.

I'd rather do that than spunk £60m+ on Lukaku and have a selection problem for years.
 

Black Adder

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Agree. Our problems are in the buildup phase and we need at least a top class right winger.
This!

Martial-Rashford-new winger and our front line is set for the years to come with Depay-Rooney-Lingard as backups, not bad IMO. But we also need to add real quality in the middle of the pitch as well in defence (at least 1 proper CM, ideally 2, and 1 CB).
 

the hea

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Honestly, its why I'm on board with Ibra. Cart Rooney off to the Travellers yard, get in Ibrahimovic for a couple of seasons, rotate him with Rashford whilst he's young, malleable, and does not need to be over-burdened then ship Ibra off to the MLS in 2018 when Rashford is 20.

I'd rather do that than spunk £60m+ on Lukaku and have a selection problem for years.
The problem as I see it is getting rid of Rooney. With his wages I can see no European club being interested in signing him so the only chance we have is if he would accept a move to China.
 

Norris

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Rooney's going nowhere. You know he will be here a long time. And he's definitely not the sort to go to China. More likely MLS when he thinks it is time or maybe back to Everton.
 

Van Piorsing

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Rooney's going nowhere. You know he will be here a long time. And he's definitely not the sort to go to China. More likely MLS when he thinks it is time or maybe back to Everton.
Everton will have to throw solid chunk of their budget to pay him for his presence on the pitch.

Agreed on him staying here for while. Probably even Mourinho will have a soft spot but it's actually interesting where he'll play under new reign when we all know Mou likes instant progress and title charge in matter of one or two seasons.
 

Norris

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Everton will have to throw solid chunk of their budget to pay him for his presence on the pitch.

Agreed on him staying here for while. Probably even Mourinho will have a soft spot but it's actually interesting where he will play under new reign when we all know Mou likes instant progress and title charge in matter of one or two seasons.
If it's Mourinho at the helm, the answer should be simple. A 4-2-3-1 with Rooney at No 10. I doubt Mata will be at the club for long and there really is no one else who can fill that role.

And regarding the Everton switch, I remember reading about it somewhere either from him or from some other source. By that point, he really won't even need the Money (Not that he needs it now either) and will happily take a wage-cut. I expect something similar to the Lampard deal to be struck between an MLS club and Everton.
 

the hea

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I can't see Rooney going to Everton before his current contract runs out, in fact I think it's highly unlikely that he will be going anywhere before that. Like @Ijazz17 said he doesn't seem to be the type that would go to China so I think we'll be stuck with him for 3 more seasons.

This means that we'll have Rooney, Rashford and Martial in the squad for the foreseeable future and I think it would be smarter to spend our money on players in other positions than getting a 4th striker which could limit the amount of playing time for Rashford in the coming seasons.
 

Macern

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Rooney's going nowhere. You know he will be here a long time. And he's definitely not the sort to go to China. More likely MLS when he thinks it is time or maybe back to Everton.
Back to Everton in the summer would be the dream
 

Van Piorsing

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If it's Mourinho at the helm, the answer should be simple. A 4-2-3-1 with Rooney at No 10. I doubt Mata will be at the club for long and there really is no one else who can fill that role.

And regarding the Everton switch, I remember reading about it somewhere either from him or from some other source. By that point, he really won't even need the Money (Not that he needs it now either) and will happily take a wage-cut. I expect something similar to the Lampard deal to be struck between an MLS club and Everton.
4-2-3-1 sounds great as it creates chances for Rashford and possible new addition but even in that system Rooney may have efficiency problem with tempo of the league. That could even apply to Everton where they play quite aggressively.

One more year with the new manager ? If he'll fail expectations then it will be even more obvious what to do with him.
 

Ubik

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So good to read that he's got a brain and strong work ethic. Don't want to get too carried away with him as there's too many cases of promising starts petering out, but he's got a bloody good set of attributes to start off with.
 

Norris

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Back to Everton in the summer would be the dream
Lol, let's get Moyes on the phone and tell him the Everton position is available. :p
4-2-3-1 sounds great as it creates chances for Rashford and possible new addition but even in that system Rooney may have efficiency problem with tempo of the league. That could even apply to Everton where they play quite aggressively.

One more year with the new manager ? If he'll fail expectations then it will be even more obvious what to do with him.
But that's been the thing hasn't it. He's had games this season where he hasn't impressed and then scores a flurry of goals like he always does and by the end of the season, his numbers don't look all that bad. So in the eyes of any Manager, he'll really not have failed in expectations.

Also I doubt Rashford will be first choice for Mou as well. Probably Martial or he'll undoubtedly bring in a typical Mourinho striker.
 

Van Piorsing

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But that's been the thing hasn't it. He's had games this season where he hasn't impressed and then scores a flurry of goals like he always does and by the end of the season, his numbers don't look all that bad. So in the eyes of any Manager, he'll really not have failed in expectations.

Also I doubt Rashford will be first choice for Mou as well. Probably Martial or he'll undoubtedly bring in a typical Mourinho striker.
Well... to be honest he kinda started scoring when we were outside CL and title race. Not wanting to downgrade his contribution but he wasn't really there when he was needed. LvG and his poor striker management also contributed to the fail but I'm patient enough to see Mourinho doing his magic and bringing him to his oldschool best.

Perhaps it's a matter of having world class players around him like it was around 2008 ? Change of manager could be a solution to many problems.
 

Norris

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Well... to be honest he kinda started scoring when we were outside CL and title race. Not wanting to downgrade his contribution but he wasn't really there when he was needed. LvG and his poor striker management also contributed to the fail but I'm patient enough to see Mourinho doing his magic and bringing him to his oldschool best.

Perhaps it's a matter of having world class players around him like it was around 2008 ? Change of manager could be a solution to many problems.
I am not exactly sure if it's the striker management as such. I think it's the and god I hate this word now, philosophy of van Gaal. He's mentioned it many times and Rooney has too in interviews as to what he expects of his striker. The games where Rooney did score was where he reverted to type and played the role of a secondary striker rather than leading the line. He played deep, played those Hollywood passes of his etc,. Even van Gaal has spoken to Rashford and Martial about the need to stay in the box and not drift wide to the channels. There is no doubt Rooney has declined physically, but if he is unshackled, I think he can do a good job for us for another 2 years.

But yeah, a change in Manager is the only way to really know if the problem lies with him or if it was the Manager all along.
 

Van Piorsing

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I am not exactly sure if it's the striker management as such. I think it's the and god I hate this word now, philosophy of van Gaal. He's mentioned it many times and Rooney has too in interviews as to what he expects of his striker. The games where Rooney did score was where he reverted to type and played the role of a secondary striker rather than leading the line. He played deep, played those Hollywood passes of his etc,. Even van Gaal has spoken to Rashford and Martial about the need to stay in the box and not drift wide to the channels. There is no doubt Rooney has declined physically, but if he is unshackled, I think he can do a good job for us for another 2 years.

But yeah, a change in Manager is the only way to really know if the problem lies with him or if it was the Manager all along.
Just signing even one world class striker with versatility may change it all as Rooney will have to finally fight for place in the squad and like you said from his biological clock's standpoint it doesn't have optimistic prognosis for his future here.

One or two years sounds fair. He's being promoted now to a club's legend status who'll maybe beat club's record or two and end his United journey in full glory. Hopefully parting ways will be as subtle as it sounds. Already created lots of good memories during SAF's era to enjoy his time here.
 

ivaldo

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He has no price, he's ridiculously important to our team already. If he turns out the player he should, he won't be leaving either.
Oh I know that, he could well be a lifer. Just curious as to how he'd be valued on today's market.
 

KingMinger22

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Anyone else starting to think that we might not need to sign a new striker this summer due to the rise of Rashford?
Martial, Rashford and Rooney could do the job next season if Rashford keeps on performing and Rooney's form doesn't deteriorate further. I'm starting to think that it might be worth a gamble and it would also mean we can spend more money to strengthen other positions in the team.
We still need another striker. No question.

We are Man United. The prospect of having some decent strength in depth should not seem so outrageous.

We need a right winger and a proper no. 10 also. Desperately.

Oh I know that, he could well be a lifer. Just curious as to how he'd be valued on today's market.
It's still a bit early for him to get a proper valuation. if he carries on his impressive start into next season, the sky is the limit for a top young English prospect. Especially a striker.
 

DWelbz19

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He's really great. An absolute threat dribbling at pace and his flicks in and around the final third are fantastic.
 

kundalini

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Wish he would get in the box more. Apart from that, perfectly happy for him to be our main striker next season.
 
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