[Silas]

I actually think his dribbling's better on the right, to be honest. On the left it's pretty obvious that he's always going to cut in onto his right foot, leading to plenty of standing still on the ball when the opposition block the route. On the right he mixes it up a lot more as, even if he's forced away from goal, he's still capable of firing in a cross. For what it's worth, I also think he's better at shooting across goal from the right than he is at placing it in the far post from the left (see the goals against Leipzig, PSG).

 

[croadyman]

Needs Grealish to come in this summer and make him feel some pressure for his place on that side, he looks far too comfortable and knows he can get away with poor performances

 

[BFernandes]

Does anyone even get excited when the gets put through on goal? He's more than likely to either get flagged for offside, of if he is onside, just blast it straight at the keeper

 

[Sylar]

I think he looked our most dangerous asset in the first half but we couldnt get the ball to him correct. I can see at times why hes gets flagged offside, its because he makes a run, and the midfielder (unless its bruno) holds on for a second too long when an earlier release gets him into space ahead of the defender.

Think he had the beating of Zinchenko, but that kinda got wasted as soon as we conceded the goal early in the second half, and thus the game plan changed and city could thus ensure he didnt have that space to exploit.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Its throughly bad tactic to push out of his favored position on the left to accommodate Pogba, he's severely limited on the right.

 

[The Oracle]

The amount of times he is offside is absolutely frustrating.

For those saying it's because certain midfielders hold on to the ball for an extra second before releasing it, is a lame excuse.

Rashford isn't timing his runs correctly, and that is on him, nobody else.

 

[MadDogg]

The amount of times he is offside is absolutely frustrating.

For those saying it's because certain midfielders hold on to the ball for an extra second before releasing it, is a lame excuse.

Rashford isn't timing his runs correctly, and that is on him, nobody else.

Both are happening. Sometimes it's Rashford making his run too early, sometimes it's the midfielder taking too long. In this game it was more on Rashford himself but there were still moments where the ball should have been released faster.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Both are happening. Sometimes it's Rashford making his run too early, sometimes it's the midfielder taking too long. In this game it was more on Rashford himself but there were still moments where the ball should have been released faster.

He's so quick he doesn't even need to get that extra 2 yards head start.

90% of the time when you watch the replay he makes his run before the ball player is even set and ready, he just goes that split second too early.


When he times it correctly it works wonders as he ends up with miles of room, but if he's just a tiny bit more patient he'd get a lot more chances rather than being offside all the time.

I think it's mainly an issue that on the right side he's just not adjust to making the bent runs properly, he's really good at those on the left now.

For me I'd rather just see him back on the left side.

 

[Drainy]

We need a Carrick like midfielder who can screen the defence while also picking out the attackers in progressive positions. Rashford would be a primary beneficiary of that.

We're just too slow at getting the ball forward.

 

[dinostar77]

Rashford is the worlds most valuable player according to the CIES Football Observatory.

Followed by Haaland and Trent Alexander Arnold.

https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2020/wp319/en/

 

[Sylar]

We need a Carrick like midfielder who can screen the defence while also picking out the attackers in progressive positions. Rashford would be a primary beneficiary of that.

We're just too slow at getting the ball forward.

I agree with this. I think matic at times does this well where he sometimes releases it forward quickly.
Bruno tries but it also means a high rate of giving the ball away

 

[RUCK4444]

He's so quick he doesn't even need to get that extra 2 yards head start.

90% of the time when you watch the replay he makes his run before the ball player is even set and ready, he just goes that split second too early.


When he times it correctly it works wonders as he ends up with miles of room, but if he's just a tiny bit more patient he'd get a lot more chances rather than being offside all the time.

I think it's mainly an issue that on the right side he's just not adjust to making the bent runs properly, he's really good at those on the left now.

For me I'd rather just see him back on the left side.

This. Last night he had real chances to be well onside and jumped the gun.

The most important factor though is he continues to get himself into those positions to get in behind and offer the team a proper forward run. He just needs to time it correctly.

When he did time one well he almost scored a great goal if not for Dias with a great block.

 

[Dearg hÉireann]

Rashford is such a frustrating footballer, at times, capable of mesmerizing levels of skill and others like last night where he doesn't even look like a premier league player.

He's actually my favorite United player, both for his insane ability when he's on form as well as his work outside of football which makes him even more unique. It's just very hard to understand how he can be so ridiculously good one day and so poor the next.

Rooney had that habit of either being extremely good or downright lousy but he was consistent at least, he'd be very good for most of the season but a few bad spells but with Rashford it's one game to the next, you never know what you're going to get with him.

 

[Plymouth Red]

Rashford is the worlds most valuable player according to the CIES Football Observatory.

Followed by Haaland and Trent Alexander Arnold.

https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2020/wp319/en/

Did you know that if you Google "CIES Football Observatory" you get "Bollocks"?

 

[Dante]

He's half the player on the right side of the pitch.

Rashford's goalscoring is his most valuable quality, and that's currently being blunted by his starting position consistently forcing him onto his wrong foot.

A lot has been said about his recent spate of offsides, but I think it's a direct consequence of his lack of confidence about playing from the rightwing. During the Villa game, he had several goal attempts where he looked awkward firing in shots from his weaker side. I believe that's what's making Rashford extra desperate to get an extra yard of space by starting his runs extra early.

I reckon if you put Rashford back on the left, he'd be more comfortable about holding his runs for the pass. As an added bonus, he'd also be able to put more power and accuracy into his strikes.

Whilst I understand the logic of putting Pogba on the left, Ole has to ask himself whether the gain for Pogba is worth more than loss for Rashford. I don't think it is. Over the two games Pogba has played on the left, he's had a total of 0 shots on target, 2 shots off target and 2 shots blocked. Swapping Rashford and Pogba around wouldn't do either any harm, imo. And at the very least, it'll likely do Rashford some good.

The Pogba-left-Rashford-right hypothesis is being disproven by the results. Put Rashford back on the left.

 

[Red00012]

Whoever is the forwards coach for us needs to take Martial and Rashford aside and show them how to open up and not give the keeper a pass back. It’s infuriating how many times they seem to do it. What happened a good old fashioned boot through the ball ?

 

[FrankDrebin]

Not perfect but the game needed him yesterday. Brought the only element of excitement and unpredictability in a game that was bereft of it.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Whoever is the forwards coach for us needs to take Martial and Rashford aside and show them how to open up and not give the keeper a pass back. It’s infuriating how many times they seem to do it. What happened a good old fashioned boot through the ball ?

Exactly! From that angle it would have taken a minor miracle to score by trying to place it with his right foot. Either try to cut it back to a teammate or go for power with the left foot. It comes back to Rashford's main weakness, which is decision making. If he could improve on that, he would improve massively.

 

[Gabriel Allon]

Whoever is the forwards coach for us needs to take Martial and Rashford aside and show them how to open up and not give the keeper a pass back. It’s infuriating how many times they seem to do it. What happened a good old fashioned boot through the ball ?

This is something that’s been irking me for years, especially with Martial. It seems that the vast majority of his shots are hit with the inside of the boot, attempting to curl in to the far corner.

All of the best finishers have demonstrated the ability to score in a variety of ways. Ronaldo (Brazil) used to even toe punt from distance and it would catch the goalkeeper off guard. A player needs to use several parts of the foot to be a comprehensive finisher.

Another thing I’ve noticed is the tendency for Rashford and Martial to dribble up too close to the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation. A confident goal scorer understands the benefits of shooting earlier and has no trouble executing (either scoring or seriously testing the goalkeeper most of the time). Surely with their pace they would have no issue rounding the goalkeeper, either.

 

[MattofManchester]

He doesn't seem to be as obsessive about becoming one of the best footballers as he used to be. Before, nearly everything you would see from him was training and being better, which earned him the Ronaldo comparisons.
Don't really see it anymore.

 

[Threesus]

He doesn't seem to be as obsessive about becoming one of the best footballers as he used to be. Before, nearly everything you would see from him was training and being better, which earned him the Ronaldo comparisons.
Don't really see it anymore.

Think his obsession to be the best has taken a backseat to the food poverty program he has been spearheading over the past year and it is understandable. He has not only been the face of the campaign, he has also been speaking about it and tweeting about it non-stop since then. They thought the knighthood would shut him up but it didn't. He has still been one of our better performers this season, but maybe we should set realistic expectations for him.

I am more disappointed in Tony and Mason to be honest. They looked like they went up a level last season post lockdown, but have been underwhelming this year. We can maybe put down Mason's performances to sophomore blues, but Tony has been disappointing and right now, is not deserving of the 200 grand he gets paid every week.

 

[MattofManchester]

Think his obsession to be the best has taken a backseat to the food poverty program he has been spearheading over the past year and it is understandable. He has not only been the face of the campaign, he has also been speaking about it and tweeting about it non-stop since then. They thought the knighthood would shut him up but it didn't. He has still been one of our better performers this season, but maybe we should set realistic expectations for him.

I am more disappointed in Tony and Mason to be honest. They looked like they went up a level last season post lockdown, but have been underwhelming this year. We can maybe put down Mason's performances to sophomore blues, but Tony has been disappointing and right now, is not deserving of the 200 grand he gets paid every week.

To be fair, I wasn't criticizing him. It was merely an observation of him at the moment. I think we'll see the best of him in the future anyway.

 

[Sylar]

The leader of the opposition getting shit sorted off the field

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[phonics_tid]

Not sure what that was tonight but he really needs to pull his finger out and put in a big performance on Sunday. The experiment with him on the right doesn’t seem to be working but at the very least he’s got to try. Too many times he’s sauntering about without any urgency or desire to his game, I don’t get it.

 

[el3mel]

Good ball for the assist, but overall it was honestly a pretty poor performance and most of his touches were bad.

 

[PoTMS]

Surely his off the field activities are having an effect on his performances. He's been poor for a while, despite the goals.

 

[Martial'sEmergingSmile]

Walks through games looking bored. Does no pressing, no defensive work - never tracks back, pulls out of 50/50s, doesn't fight for loose balls.

On the attacking side he rarely commits defenders and runs at them - which defenders must love since he's so dangerous when he actually bothers.

Thankfully even commentators have started criticising him for the walking football and pulling out of 50/50s...both Neville and Redknapp at various points tonight.

He and Martial have stood out this season as having a complete lack of drive, intensity and desire in so, so many matches. Cavani - as a 34 year old with nothing to prove, with no connection to the club - puts them both to shame in terms of the intensity, work-rate and passion he shows on the pitch.

Cavani missed a half-chance and he was still shouting at himself when the camera came back to him a couple of minutes later. Rashford blew a good counter-attack with a cross directly to the keeper and he just turned around and walked back with zero reaction. It's been that way all season.

 

[Swiss_Red89]

Not at his best today. But was more lively in the second half and deserved the assist.

He constantly comes up with crucial moments this season (in the CL+PL) and is a big reason why we are top of the league.

Have to say he looks a bit sad and exhausted sometimes in the last few weeks.

 

[Raven]

Looked the worst on the pitch, in some shocking form at the moment.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Surely his off the field activities are having an effect on his performances. He's been poor for a while, despite the goals.

No, no they aren’t, he’s been doing it for ages and played well for a while now.

just a poor game where he still got an assist, please don’t link it to his charity work.

 

[united for life]

managed an assist, the records will remember him for that. Poor performance though. He belongs on the left

 

[spiriticon]

Not as good on the right side but he has to do it because he is the only one who can play there semi-decently

 

[Vernon Philander]

The worst performer in the team today. Slow and poor decision making for the most part. Looks like he needs a rest

 

[londonredmaniac]

Great ball for the goal. Picked out Pogba well.

Tbh though, the only thing he did well all night. Thought he was absolutely awful otherwise.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Not his best of games but what a massive assist.

 

[Lay]

Good assist but such a poor game. I feel he will lose the ball each time he attempts a dribble.

 

[Red00012]

Great assist but god he was truly awful

 

[ValenciasDrilledCrosses]

Poor performance. His stopping on the ball and consulting the gods whether to pass or not instead of driving at defenders is driving me crazy. Most of his touches were off too. Good assist though.

Need a big game from him on Sunday, I'm guessing he'll be playing in a front two with Cavani

 

[Borys]

managed an assist, the records will remember him for that. Poor performance though. He belongs on the left

Not as good on the right side but he has to do it because he is the only one who can play there semi-decently

I don't agree that he's better on the left. He's just in poor form right now, and on the right at least he has more space.

He would've been even worse on the left in that game.

 

[El Zoido]

He cannot play on the right wing, but that said, he’s still got something about him when he runs at defences. Must start on the left side vs Liverpool.