Why can't Rashford play on the right wing?

Ekeke

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But he was still very good on the left. Such a versatile player!
On the left he could come onto his right foot, but as mentioned he scored more often with his left so was less dangerous. Also he never quite got the in swinging crosses right from the left side. Young for example was very good at them, Nani would put them too close to the keeper
 

InfiniteBoredom

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Yep thats why I was a big fan. When he got his crosses right they led to very easy finishes and when he came inside onto his left foot he actually scored more goals with his left than his right. So he was completely ideal to play on the right.

But we played him a bunch on the left :confused:
Because Nani even when not at his best on the left was still the better option than Giggs or Park at the time. Valencia could only play on the right so Nani has to suffer for the team.

The real shame was how he found himself displaced by Young particularly in 12-13 (due to his contract situation).Was played so rarely that he was overeager to impress and messed up in 2 big fixtures, despite playing well (League Cup vs Chelsea and CL vs Madrid). Never recovered afterwards.
 

jem

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On the left he could come onto his right foot, but as mentioned he scored more often with his left so was less dangerous. Also he never quite got the in swinging crosses right from the left side. Young for example was very good at them, Nani would put them too close to the keeper
Did he score more with his left? Honestly can't remember - he definitely seemed very two-footed, which is a rare commodity.
 

Ekeke

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Did he score more with his left? Honestly can't remember - he definitely seemed very two-footed, which is a rare commodity.
Yes he did. He scored more goals from the right side (and assisted more) and the majority of his goals were left footed
 

Threesus

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He is a very odd one, our Marcus. If you watch our 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, he made a very good pass to Mason, but then he will misplace the simplest of passes. He can actually destroy any fullback 1 on 1, but he is not the most consistent dribbler. He has a powerful shot in him and can pull of some miracle strikes, but other times, his attempts are comically bad. I actually think he offers more than Mata on the right, but he has been unwilling to track back and help the defence out since his return from the back injury. You can always see Mata/Mason tracking back and helping the defence out. I don't know if it's a consequence of his back injury or a tactical instruction to stay up for counters.

Either way, when Amad comes over, it will be interesting to see how Ole handles him, Rashford, Cavani and Martial.
 

Dominos

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Near enough all the most effective wide players in world football play as inverted wingers. Think Robben, Ribery, Mane, Salah, Sterling, Hazard etc.

I absolutely hate seeing right footed players on the right and vise versa. Players have to be fairly two footed to be top class playing on their traditional side.
 

MadDogg

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But he was still very good on the left. Such a versatile player!
Nani was capable of being brilliant on the left (many of his best ever matches were from that side), but he wasn't able to be consistent. He'd have one brilliant match, one decent match then one poor match. Rinse and repeat. He showed far more consistency on the right, and IMO it's probably the biggest mistake Fergie made in his last few years (other than Moyes of course) that we sacrificed him for Valencia. In hindsight we should have moved Valencia back to fullback earlier and allowed the both of them to just destroy that right flank.
 

Scholsey2004

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Because he's a forward really rather than an attacking midfielder. On the left he can roll in on his right foot, beat a man and attack the goal. A right footed player on the right wing can't do that so he needs to be more of a creative passer like a Beckham. At present we don't have a player like that. Sancho was clearly pencilled in for that role but obviously 'wecantaffordhimgate' ruled that out.
 

jem

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Yes he did. He scored more goals from the right side (and assisted more) and the majority of his goals were left footed
I don't think that's correct. Just watching this video (which curiously doesn't seem to show all 40 goals,) the majority are with his right foot (I counted 22 with right, 9 with left on this video, and one with his head.)
 

Ekeke

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I don't think that's correct. Just watching this video (which curiously doesn't seem to show all 40 goals,) the majority are with his right foot (I counted 22 with right, 9 with left on this video, and one with his head.)
So it was just for the 10/11 season which was his best season and he took the position on right wing. He scored 7 with his left of his 9 goals that season and it was the most goals he scored in a season, other than in America. Sure most seasons he scored more with his right, but that was the best season Nani had. 7 with his left and 2 with his right
 

jem

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So it was just for the 10/11 season which was his best season and he took the position on right wing. He scored 7 with his left of his 9 goals that season and it was the most goals he scored in a season, other than in America. Sure most seasons he scored more with his right, but that was the best season Nani had. 7 with his left and 2 with his right
Oh no doubt, and the fact that he could do that in a season speaks volumes about what an incredible, albeit inconsistent, talent he was. He would solve so many problems for us now.
 

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He has the skillset to be a hybrid between traditional, touchline-hugging winger and inside forward. He's not the most instinctive or creative player, but he has pace, quick feet and a few repeatable skills/tricks that he uses consistently and effectively (stepovers and drawbacks).

Given the above, he could easily be converted to a wider player, servicing more consistent finishers... like, say, Edison Cavani. Rashford could do this very well on the right, crossing the ball with his stronger foot. We would need to get a similar player for the left (not Martial) to do a similar task.

Alternatively, we play Rashford on the left as an inverted inside forward - like we've done during most of his career so far - and possibly play Martial on the right to so a similar task.

The summary is that we need a wide player - either an inside forward to compete with out current players - or a winger to come straight into the eleven.
 

RobertoBaggio99

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Because he likes to cut inside and is ineffective with his left foot. For a right-footed RW to function he needs to be a good crosser (which he isn't) in addition to having a decent left-foot. Rashford is already limited on the left as a playmaker but he makes up for it with his inverted runs and goals, switching his side gives you Walcott at best.
 

Lee565

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Thought our attack as a unit showed better balance last night with rash on the right and martial on left, I hope ole goes with something similar in the next few games.
 

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He was good cutting in on the right yesterday. He doesn't stay out wide just like Mata and Greenwood didn't, so I think he still provides good balance if he goes out there for the time being. Him adjusting there + having Cavani up top looks to be better for our attack than having him Left and no Cavani.
 

zenith

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He's a decent option on the right in the sense that he has pace and can provide width there, unlike our other options there.

I can see us going for that option later in game when greenwood is not being effective from the right
 

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I think he'll be rotating between left and right wing forward depending on if we have Martial or Cavani centreforward. If its the former he'll be on the left, if it's the latter I think it's more than likely him or Greenwood on the right. Think Ole has realised Dan James isn't an option on that side anymore.

Rashford/Martial/James
Martial/Cavani
Greenwood/Rashford
 

Lee565

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I don't see why if we have greenwood, martial and rashford all starting in the same game that ole doesn't ask them to be a fluid front 3 in rotating between the 3 front positions during the match, if pulled off well it would be a nightmare for defences to handle it, the only one out of them 3 that I would be concerned about is martial as this is the same guy that has sulked when he hasn't got his own way like when he had his shirt number taken off him and him wanting to play as a striker rather than on the left wing as if he is on messi's level and that club should be pandering to him.
 

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I loved watching Martial and Rashford playing either side of Cavani with Bruno right behind them. It was spectacular to watch and I think it can work going forward. Cavani is a hard worker and Martial had a brilliant game on the left. What I love about Rashford is he kept the width on the right and I have not watched a United side in the last 7 years that stretched the opponents defense and played so freely through the middle. It was lovely to watch for once. I hope we continue to play this way because I think Rashford can assume Ronaldo's role when he started at United by playing on the right and Nani who was quite successful on the right as well. I think Rashford is clever and hog the touchline and also he can run through on goal and also cross well plus I also liked watching AWB who had another option on the right without having to turn back towards his defense every time. Let's keep this going please. Maybe Cavani and Mason can play in the middle and we might not even need Sancho. I know Sancho is a proper right sided player but Rashford is just as good and can play anywhere in the front 3 positions.
 

Adam-Utd

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No coincidence that having a proper threat out wide gave Bruno more space to work in and thus made him look even more dangerous.

Telles actually had a target to cross too as well, even if the ball went over the box Rashford was ready at the back post. Worked really well IMO.
 

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Yeah I was really skeptical of this working, but we looked much better set up like that last night.

I hope he keeps the same front 4 for Southampton, but think he'll likely rest Cavani after having a full 90 last night.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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I think it’s always nice if he can adapt on the right as well. Mbappe is capable playing across left, right, centre and he’s a right foot player. Rashford should do the same.
 

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It would solve a few problems if it would work but I have my doubts. Lets see what he does against a decent full back thats not leaving a sht ton of space behind him and pushes him on to his left foot.
 

Volumiza

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Thought our attack as a unit showed better balance last night with rash on the right and martial on left, I hope ole goes with something similar in the next few games.
Couldn’t agree more. Genuinely think Rashford and Martial either side of a proper CF would be best.
 

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Near enough all the most effective wide players in world football play as inverted wingers. Think Robben, Ribery, Mane, Salah, Sterling, Hazard etc.

I absolutely hate seeing right footed players on the right and vise versa. Players have to be fairly two footed to be top class playing on their traditional side.
Leroy Sane was fantastic as a left winger for City in their 100 point season. It just requires a slightly different style of play but he stretched the pitch so much for them. Swapping to inverted wingers hasn't made them as good IMO.
 

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I think Rashford wants the ball deeper so he can run at the defence and cut inside for a shot, where as Mbappe plays on the shoulder more and tends to want to run in behind. Different mentalities, both effective, but Rashford is probably more effective on the left.
 

cyril C

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While that is true I do wonder how many goals he has scored from the right side with his right foot. It feels like he has scored a lot coming from the right.
Does it make more sense to you that you normally have more space and better angle, to shoot with your left foot, from the right hand side, like Robben? I am sure you can score with your right foot from any angle, but if you argue without any sense, this is pointless. The only factor that make Rashford a poor right winger, is that because he tends to shoot instead of pass, a finisher instead of a provider. Practically most of our attacking players are finisher, not provider.
 

MikeKing

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Does it make more sense to you that you normally have more space and better angle, to shoot with your left foot, from the right hand side, like Robben? I am sure you can score with your right foot from any angle, but if you argue without any sense, this is pointless. The only factor that make Rashford a poor right winger, is that because he tends to shoot instead of pass, a finisher instead of a provider. Practically most of our attacking players are finisher, not provider.
I don't think I've made an argument either way but I do agree that Rashford is more of a finisher in a way, even though he does provide too. I wonder how many goals he has scored from the right side, it feels like he drifts to that side quite often and finds the space he needs to create. I'm not sure it's a position for him longterm, where he can be both effective and find consistency while in possession, general play etc.. but you never know.
 

spiriticon

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I like Rashford on right wing and I think he'd do a better job than Martial there anyway
 

cyril C

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I don't think I've made an argument either way but I do agree that Rashford is more of a finisher in a way, even though he does provide too. I wonder how many goals he has scored from the right side, it feels like he drifts to that side quite often and finds the space he needs to create. I'm not sure it's a position for him longterm, where he can be both effective and find consistency while in possession, general play etc.. but you never know.
For strange reason few of our wingers are provider, they all tend to be a false striker but mostly unsuccessful. James is another bad example, and I thought we should have learnt our lesson from Zaha. Talent may be, but something must be done to change his mindset before it is too late. My suggestion would be to put him in U23 for a month, forbids him to shoot for the whole month, or a penalty of 1K for every shot attempt. If he must shoot in front of open goal, he can only do so with his weaker foot.
 

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Wait a second, Rashford has played majority of the games for United/England on the left, and now we want to shift him to the right? He can do a job there, but I would much rather play Mason there. Mason puts in a good defensive shift too. And didn't reports come out that said Tony was unhappy playing on the left and wanted that No 9 shirt and play as the main man up top? I would continue playing him up top and hope he gains some form. Because it gets tiring after a while when we are still undecided about his position 5 years into his career here.
 

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Yep thats why I was a big fan. When he got his crosses right they led to very easy finishes and when he came inside onto his left foot he actually scored more goals with his left than his right. So he was completely ideal to play on the right.

But we played him a bunch on the left :confused:
We've Ronaldo initially and Valencia who was as one footed as they come.

Such a shame about Nani, if he was currently in the squad, he'll be our best player along with Bruno.
 

elmo

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Wait a second, Rashford has played majority of the games for United/England on the left, and now we want to shift him to the right? He can do a job there, but I would much rather play Mason there. Mason puts in a good defensive shift too. And didn't reports come out that said Tony was unhappy playing on the left and wanted that No 9 shirt and play as the main man up top? I would continue playing him up top and hope he gains some form. Because it gets tiring after a while when we are still undecided about his position 5 years into his career here.
Martial will be sold in a year or two. Him taking up a spot upfront is a huge reason why we're so inconsistent because he's either on form or we're basically playing with a man down.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Wait a second, Rashford has played majority of the games for United/England on the left, and now we want to shift him to the right? He can do a job there, but I would much rather play Mason there. Mason puts in a good defensive shift too. And didn't reports come out that said Tony was unhappy playing on the left and wanted that No 9 shirt and play as the main man up top? I would continue playing him up top and hope he gains some form. Because it gets tiring after a while when we are still undecided about his position 5 years into his career here.
Mason also doesn’t suit on the right. Mason is a finisher, He plays in there because he’s not ready to be our regular no 9.

However, what we know is that Mason‘s asset is not his pace, not his dribbling skills, not his creativity and make assists like Dembele (both have no weak foot, that’s why I used him as comparison in here). Mason’s assets are his shooting, no weak foot and finishing. The guy will be no 9 in the future due to his assets until he can improve his hold up play, build up play and his heading which he can learn that from Cavani.

Notice how none of Greenwood goals were against the top 6 team because his style isn’t RW. He tends to be less effective on the right against the top 10 opposition. So Mason also can do a job there but not week in week out.
 

Ekeke

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We've Ronaldo initially and Valencia who was as one footed as they come.

Such a shame about Nani, if he was currently in the squad, he'll be our best player along with Bruno.
Ronaldo was always willing to come onto his left and shoot from the right. He just wasnt as good at it as Nani

Valencia yes of course, he only had one direction he'd want to go
 

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Not sure why we should deploy Martial on the left, as he's not a better player. Rashford is a huge talent and a future star for us. He shouldnt be played on the right when he's better than the one on the left.

Play Martial on the right or someone else