[Swiss_Red89]

It's funny to follow this Nani vs Rashford debate.
The one thing they definitely have in common, is that they have their fair share of haters. Nani divided the fanbase/redcafe similar to how Rashford is doing. It got to the point that Nani was booed of the pitch from the OT crowd at the end of his United career.

In hindsight there are now (rightfully) a lot of claims that he was underrated, a brilliant player for us etc. I think it will be similar with Rashford.

Ps. I was a huge Nani fan. Nani was a sensational player to watch and had more flair then Rashy. But I think Rashford is on his way to become the better player for us than Nani was. (you could easily argue he already is).

 

[Swiss_Red89]

btw, have to say: his skill to beat White on the baseline was absolutely superb, brilliant piece of play. Followed with the right decision. Would've been wonderful if Hojlund scored from that pass.

 

[tomaldinho1]

It's funny to follow this Nani vs Rashford debate.
The one thing they definitely have in common, is that they have their fair share of haters. Nani divided the fanbase/redcafe similar to how Rashford is doing. It got to the point that Nani was booed of the pitch from the OT crowd at the end of his United career.

In hindsight there are now (rightfully) a lot of claims that he was underrated, a brilliant player for us etc. I think it will be similar with Rashford.

Ps. I was a huge Nani fan. Nani was a sensational player to watch and had more flair then Rashy. But I think Rashford is on his way to become the better player for us than Nani was. (you could easily argue he already is).

Rashford I think has definitely been a better player for us but I will always have a soft spot for Nani and his electric yet infuriating style of play - there was that one season it all came together and he was world class if only for a short period.

Rashford I feel is a bit symbolic of the ills of our club, after coming though under LVG and Mou putting him on LW (I remember Rashford gave an interview and referenced Neymar as the type of player he would look to emulate and how many great attackers were on the LW or words to that effect) I'm not sure he's added to his game, he's maximised his real asset, pace, and cutting onto his right foot and is very effective at this. I guess its like Robben, you knew what he wanted to do but you couldn't always stop him. He is a very good LW offensively, he's had up and down seasons but if there's anyone I would bet on to score the most goals for us this season it is him. I am hoping ETH can add a bit more to his game though, a little more patience now and then and hopefully a bit more confidence to try a few more 'flair' type moves which I seem to remember him doing a lot more in the first coupe of seasons.

 

[ArmaDino]

Not to dogpile on him, but what is up with his friends? First Lingard, now Sancho. Why does he always have people who are such poor characters around him? Maybe that would explain why his attitude is lacking on the pitch when we are out of posession.

It's funny to follow this Nani vs Rashford debate.
The one thing they definitely have in common, is that they have their fair share of haters. Nani divided the fanbase/redcafe similar to how Rashford is doing. It got to the point that Nani was booed of the pitch from the OT crowd at the end of his United career.

In hindsight there are now (rightfully) a lot of claims that he was underrated, a brilliant player for us etc. I think it will be similar with Rashford.

Ps. I was a huge Nani fan. Nani was a sensational player to watch and had more flair then Rashy. But I think Rashford is on his way to become the better player for us than Nani was. (you could easily argue he already is).

It's a case for all the players that lack workrate and urgency when out of posession on the pitch. You'll never see stuff like this happen to players like Park, Tevez, Rooney, or even Herrera or Antony, but Pogba, Berbatov, Nani and now Rashford will always be singled out for this. People will always have an extra bit of sympathy for someone who is trying, even if the end result is lacking.

 

[jesperjaap]

Rashford I think has definitely been a better player for us but I will always have a soft spot for Nani and his electric yet infuriating style of play - there was that one season it all came together and he was world class if only for a short period.

Rashford I feel is a bit symbolic of the ills of our club, after coming though under LVG and Mou putting him on LW (I remember Rashford gave an interview and referenced Neymar as the type of player he would look to emulate and how many great attackers were on the LW or words to that effect) I'm not sure he's added to his game, he's maximised his real asset, pace, and cutting onto his right foot and is very effective at this. I guess its like Robben, you knew what he wanted to do but you couldn't always stop him. He is a very good LW offensively, he's had up and down seasons but if there's anyone I would bet on to score the most goals for us this season it is him. I am hoping ETH can add a bit more to his game though, a little more patience now and then and hopefully a bit more confidence to try a few more 'flair' type moves which I seem to remember him doing a lot more in the first coupe of seasons.

Agree with the first paragraph. Nani was undoubtedly stacked in terms of talent and athleticism....but think people are really looking back with rose tinted glasses. As another poster states, he wasnt hugely popular in his spell at the club, especially at the end, he coul dbe infuriating, though there was that one season, not conicncidene it was when he swapped wings for a lot of it that he was really really good.

I think he was more talented than Rashford, I think Rashforsd has performed better in his career here......but not much tbh, yet he has been idolised by a lot of the fanbase during his career here and Nani wasnt really, whe for me despite a few really good short spells, it was only really last year he put in a consistency of top top performances for a period of time, he was world class last year....but lets be honest, it was for what 4months or so, he was poor at the end of the season.

I do still think when people talk about what our side needs to improve, we do over rate the abilities and performancs through 90mins and over a season of Rashford and Fernandes. Can understand it as they have been our only really creative goalscoring players for a fair while now. Thinking back to some of our great sides over the years, neither get in any of them which is hardly a disgrace but quite telling

 

[Bwuk]

Nani was a better footballer, Rashford a far better goalscorer.

 

[Frank Grimes]

btw, have to say: his skill to beat White on the baseline was absolutely superb, brilliant piece of play. Followed with the right decision. Would've been wonderful if Hojlund scored from that pass.

Should have left it for Antony who had a tap in.

 

[ddg01]

The lads a PR stunt living off a purple patch like his unemployed mate Lingard.

 

[MancunianAngels]

The lads a PR stunt living off a purple patch like his unemployed mate Lingard.

Funny. The man who has scored 130 goals for us, scored in numerous big games is just a PR merchant.

Pity he spent his free time helping to feed kids during lockdown rather than being accused of a serious crime. He'd probably get more leeway from people on here.

 

[Slevs]

Funny. The man who has scored 130 goals for us, scored in numerous big games is just a PR merchant.

Pity he spent his free time helping to feed kids during lockdown rather than being accused of a serious crime. He'd probably get more leeway from people on here.

I don't agree with the original poster from that quote but want to say that there's nothing that prevents him from being both a good goal-scorer and a PR machine.
We've all seen how his PR team goes into overdrive whenever there's bad press, even when it's justified. It gets tiring sometimes (bad back, he was depressed, playing injured, etc.).

That last line is completely irrelevant to his performances. Good on him for feeding kids but how does it affect his performance?

 

[Hughes35]

Nani was a better footballer, Rashford a far better goalscorer.

I was just about to post similar.

I prefer Nani but Rashford will get better stats.

 

[Swiss_Red89]

How was his performance for England today?

 

[Annihilate Now!]

How was his performance for England today?

Very good - was a real handful for them in the first half with his runs.

 

[Dan_F]

I don't agree with the original poster from that quote but want to say that there's nothing that prevents him from being both a good goal-scorer and a PR machine.
We've all seen how his PR team goes into overdrive whenever there's bad press, even when it's justified. It gets tiring sometimes (bad back, he was depressed, playing injured, etc.).

That last line is completely irrelevant to his performances. Good on him for feeding kids but how does it affect his performance?

Bad back and injured are the same thing, I’ve never seen him say anything about being depressed. It’s common knowledge that he was playing with a long term injury in that poor 18 months, I don’t think that has much to do with PR.

 

[Swiss_Red89]

Very good - was a real handful for them in the first half with his runs.

Good to hear. Thank you.

 

[NoPace]

How was his performance for England today?

Only watched the first half but he was both constantly offside and also probably their best player (along with Dunk).

The game sort of made me think Amad might end up as our RW, since we could basically play 4-2-2-2 with Rashford and Hojlund up top (with Rashford fairly left, like Cristiano used to play for Madrid or Mbappe tends to play) and Amad and Bruno with space to create behind then, then Casemiro and a new signing behind them.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Only watched the first half but he was both constantly offside

Checks stats, sees England were caught offiside 3 times in 90 minutes, scratches head & wonders how that equates to one player being constantly offside.

Checks futher, sees Rashford was offside twice in 71 minues, that’s 35 mins per offside. ”Constantly” must have a different meaning than I’ve been using it my whole life.

 

[LInkash]

Some nice passes from him today.

 

[NoPace]

Checks stats, sees England were caught offiside 3 times in 90 minutes, scratches head & wonders how that equates to one player being constantly offside.

Checks futher, sees Rashford was offside twice in 71 minues, that’s 35 mins per offside. ”Constantly” must have a different meaning than I’ve been using it my whole life.

2 offsides a game would give you the all-time Prem record in just 5 seasons of playing.

Also, I didn't say "caught offside" I just said offside. He didn't always get the ball.

It wasn't bad, it was tactical because Kane drops deep. As I said he was by far England's most dangerous player (along with Walker since Robertson kept following Foden and Scotland play with no wingers) in the half I watched.

 

[Redstain]

He was good I think he benefits from having movement around him especially Bellingham who has natural athleticism as a 10 he linked up well with him. It's something Bruno is unable to provide as he's the distributor on the edge of the box under ETH. Maybe Mount can offer this as he did occupy good positions for Chelsea when goalscoring.

I think the best thing with England is Marcus isn't the main man so he can play off his teammates well. In all honesty the attacking lineup at United aside Rashford is perhaps the worst it's been under all managers post SAF. So many are dismissive of Rashford as a player but you take him out of this United squad and it's a 6th-8th placed collection of players.

 

[tenhagsimp]

It's funny to follow this Nani vs Rashford debate.
The one thing they definitely have in common, is that they have their fair share of haters. Nani divided the fanbase/redcafe similar to how Rashford is doing. It got to the point that Nani was booed of the pitch from the OT crowd at the end of his United career.

In hindsight there are now (rightfully) a lot of claims that he was underrated, a brilliant player for us etc. I think it will be similar with Rashford.

Ps. I was a huge Nani fan. Nani was a sensational player to watch and had more flair then Rashy. But I think Rashford is on his way to become the better player for us than Nani was. (you could easily argue he already is).

For me they are similar in they either look world class and borderline unplayable or total crap. There is no in between. But on technical lvl perspective Nani was levels above Rashford but Rashford has better finishing and more clinical for sure. Drop Prime Nani in the league now he instantly would be top 3 winger in the league.

 

[MancunianAngels]

I do laugh at the comparison between him and Nani.

Everyone slated Nani for years due to his inconsistency aside from a period of 18 months - 2 years between 2010 and 2012.

Rashford's contribution to the club probably outweighs Nani's. Rashford has produced his moments in a side that has lacked any real strategy in terms of how best to utilise him.

Nani was lucky that his development years coincided with us winning successive titles. That probably changes the perception of how good (or not at times) he actually was.

 

[Yagami]

I do laugh at the comparison between him and Nani.

Everyone slated Nani for years due to his inconsistency aside from a period of 18 months - 2 years between 2010 and 2012.

Rashford's contribution to the club probably outweighs Nani's. Rashford has produced his moments in a side that has lacked any real strategy in terms of how best to utilise him.

Nani was lucky that his development years coincided with us winning successive titles. That probably changes the perception of how good (or not at times) he actually was.

You say that like Nani wasn't a key player in some of those title winning sides. Nani was putting in performances like this in his first season:


Rashford has a great goalscoring record in big games, but I've still yet to see him dominate a top team like Nani did here.

 

[FrankWhite]

Nani was a better footballer, Rashford a far better goalscorer.

Rashford is also far more physically gifted.

 

[Cloud7]

Not to dogpile on him, but what is up with his friends? First Lingard, now Sancho. Why does he always have people who are such poor characters around him? Maybe that would explain why his attitude is lacking on the pitch when we are out of posession.

I think it's far more likely the case that he would, by default, associate more with the English players in the squad off the field (perfectly normal) and in recent times that's ended up being Lingard and then Sancho. Our other english players are Shaw, Maguire and AWB, all of whom seem more like the 'finish training and go home' type rather than say guys who would link up and film a video singing beans beans beans.

I don't think it's fair to say that that's any representation on the people he chooses to have around him.

 

[Hammondo]

Checks stats, sees England were caught offiside 3 times in 90 minutes, scratches head & wonders how that equates to one player being constantly offside.

Checks futher, sees Rashford was offside twice in 71 minues, that’s 35 mins per offside. ”Constantly” must have a different meaning than I’ve been using it my whole life.

Well that's just not accurate, he can be offside and not passed to.

 

[DWelbz19]

The game sort of made me think Amad might end up as our RW, since we could basically play 4-2-2-2 with Rashford and Hojlund up top (with Rashford fairly left, like Cristiano used to play for Madrid or Mbappe tends to play) and Amad and Bruno with space to create behind then, then Casemiro and a new signing behind them.

Sounds nice. What do you do with our new no.7?

 

[Doracle]

Well that's just not accurate, he can be offside and not passed to.

A forward who is trying to run in behind is going to be offside multiple times if they aren’t passed to. The thread has reached a new low if that’s what he’s now being criticised for.

Anyway, from the highlights, he looked really sharp last night. It’s a joy watching him link up with other world class players.

 

[jem]

Rashford is also far more physically gifted.

I'm curious what this means. Nani is one of the more two-footed players I can remember (a physical gift if ever there were one, no?) He was also able to score his share of long-distance screamers like Rashford. I also remember him being pretty swift (although I don't trust my memory completely on this one.) The big issue with Nani, as far as I can recall, was consistency, which seemed more a mental thing than anything else.

 

[Cloudface]

He was good last night with his passing and general link up play. He's always been pretty great at playing players in with those slide passes from out wide.

Unfortunately I saw three Scotland players run past him as they countered for their goal. He had his head down like Charlie Brown because he didn't get a shot off or something. The duality of Rashford.

 

[stw2022]

He was good last night with his passing and general link up play. He's always been pretty great at playing players in with those slide passes from out wide.

Unfortunately I saw three Scotland players run past him as they countered for their goal. He had his head down like Charlie Brown because he didn't get a shot off or something. The duality of Rashford.

It's him in a nutshell. For me it's the stark contrast between his public image of a hard-working, passionate, dyed-in-the-wool, top red who bleeds Manchester United and the reality of his performances that are indistinguishable from a 36 year old from overseas who's joined the Premier League for one last pay day before he retires and has stopped giving much of a shit.

 

[Doracle]

He was good last night with his passing and general link up play. He's always been pretty great at playing players in with those slide passes from out wide.

Unfortunately I saw three Scotland players run past him as they countered for their goal. He had his head down like Charlie Brown because he didn't get a shot off or something. The duality of Rashford.

Rashford ran the length of the pitch and played a perfect ball into Bellingham, before continuing at full sprint into the centre. Beliingham then messed up a cross.

Scotland took a quick goal kick at which point Rashford was nowhere near any of the players who were involved in the break - his man didn’t go forwards. No one ran past him at all.

In short, the second paragraph above has no basis in reality.

 

[Holocene]

I'm curious what this means. Nani is one of the more two-footed players I can remember (a physical gift if ever there were one, no?) He was also able to score his share of long-distance screamers like Rashford. I also remember him being pretty swift (although I don't trust my memory completely on this one.) The big issue with Nani, as far as I can recall, was consistency, which seemed more a mental thing than anything else.

Not the person you're quoting. But physically gifted I would describe as a better athlete, faster, stronger etc.

What you described is technical ability. Which I would agree with.

 

[Cloudface]

Rashford ran the length of the pitch and played a perfect ball into Bellingham, before continuing at full sprint into the centre. Beliingham then messed up a cross.

Scotland took a quick goal kick at which point Rashford was nowhere near any of the players who were involved in the break - his man didn’t go forwards. No one ran past him at all.

In short, the second paragraph above has no basis in reality.

At 6.30. To be fair, you are mostly right. I remembered getting annoyed at his little jog and imagined another couple of players running past, but there was only one bloke countering vaguely near him. The other two hung back. I should double check my memories.

 

[NoPace]

Sounds nice. What do you do with our new no.7?

I'm not really a fan, I think he should be Bruno's backup or we should just sell him for 40M next summer to Villa, West Ham or whoever.

 

[jem]

Not the person you're quoting. But physically gifted I would describe as a better athlete, faster, stronger etc.

What you described is technical ability. Which I would agree with.

Yeah that makes sense although I'd probably only give Rashford the nod for being faster. I can't remember the last time he won any kind of physical tussle/header.

 

[FrankWhite]

Yeah that makes sense although I'd probably only give Rashford the nod for being faster. I can't remember the last time he won any kind of physical tussle/header.

This goal against Wolves away last season where he came on from the bench stands out.
https://youtube.com/shorts/aKvjlQ5zvEw?si=-CUdKmA5EvjIm84j
Rashford is stronger, faster and taller though Nani was a more natural footballer. One of my favourite things about Nani was his ability to beat players from a stand still. He was even better at this than Ronaldo was.

 

[criticalanalysis]

You say that like Nani wasn't a key player in some of those title winning sides. Nani was putting in performances like this in his first season:


Rashford has a great goalscoring record in big games, but I've still yet to see him dominate a top team like Nani did here.

The music on this is amazing

"Shut up dad, I'm going to my room, you don't even know how hard my life is!" vibes.

 

[Yagami]

The music on this is amazing

"Shut up dad, I'm going to my room, you don't even know how hard my life is!" vibes.

It was made a few days after the actual game in 2008. That was the vibe of football videos on YouTube in the 2000s

 

[Based Adnan]

Like Bruno too much of an individual player. Shocking decision making on show today which isn't exactly uncommon with him. Not convinced he has the ability to play in a fluid system.