Marcus Rashford’s inspiring play for Manchester United
Rashford has been in excellent form with his increased role.
It’s hard to believe that Marcus Rashford is only 24 years old, but it is the truth. Rashford has already become a veteran player at the highest level of global football with his 8th season currently in the process because of his debut as a 17-year-old youngster in 2015. Rashford’s entire Premier League career has been spent with Manchester United; a club that has seen seismic shifts throughout his tenure. Similarly, Rashford’s form has been dependent on the stability of the club.
The English forward debuted in a season that began with Louis van Gaal at the helm and ended with Jose Mourinho as his successor. Mourinho increased Rashford’s role at the club, but still had to manage personalities like Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba. Once Ole Gunnar Solskjær took the wheel in December 2018, Rashford began to blossom. In the two full seasons that Ole was the gaffer, Rashford scored 28 goals and assisted 16 times in 68 domestic matches (2019–2021). United started the 2021–2022 campaign extremely poorly and Ole was inevitably sacked and eventually replaced by Ralf Rangnick. Rangnick oversaw the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford, once again subjecting Rashford to a lesser role within an offense that revolved around the regressing, but still decently effective, Portuguese legend. It’s now 2023, Ronaldo is gone, and Rashford has raked up more minutes in 17 matches than he did in 25 last season. So, what has changed?
Rashford dribbles less, but cuts into the box and shoots more. Rangnick had Rashford playing in a typical playmaker role as an attacking-midfielder more so than a true winger, but Erik ten Hag has now been able to accentuate Rashford’s strengths after ridding the club of the dead weight that Ronaldo became. Ten Hag has Rashford play more aggressively and less central; smarterscout highlights the difference that this made by comparing his shooting frequency rate of 0/99 for forwards last season, while it is at a 91/99 as a left-winger under ten Hag. With defensive reinforcements like the brilliant Casemiro, as well as a back-line that is in form, Rashford is able to decrease his defensive work-rate, while increasing his attack output.
Rashford’s 64 touches in the penalty box this season already exceeds his mark of 53 last season. Rather than being a complementary figure in build-up play, he has become the target-man or assumes clean-up duty for offensive sets. In United’s 3–0 thrashing of Bournemouth, Rashford executed an outstanding season-high of 7 progressive runs. The one above emphasizes his revitalized confidence in being able to turn himself into the focal point of the opposition’s defensive tactics; he drags the defense towards the end of the pitch, giving his teammates time to recover, while still putting pressure within the final third, even if it amounts to resetting the attack.
Rashford’s composure is only a boon to his goal scoring abilities. Here, he cuts inside to orchestrate excellent link-up play with Bruno Fernandes, who returns the favor, but Rashford is required to use his physical stature in coalition with his technical ability in order to actually convert.
More than all this though, Rashford wields the intangible facets of someone who wants to lead by example. After having overslept and missing practice, Erik ten Hag benched the attacker, but unlike boisterous personalities of the past, Rashford accepted his punishment and returned to work, scoring a goal off the bench in that same Wolves clash that the training was in anticipation for. Rashford represents the vision the Erik ten Hag has for the club after years of disappointment and constant upheaval in the post-Ferguson era, and that same embodiment of virtuosic ideals should bode well for a Red Devils squad that seems to have stumbled upon an accidental title push.
