Are we expecting too much from Marcus Rashford?
Date published: Tuesday 8th November 2016 9:14
It was a fragile, flimsy defence, delivered in the cocksure, brazen-faced manner Jose Mourinho had probably spent hours perfecting in the mirror the evening before. “One lie, repeated many times,” he said at his Manchester United unveiling in July.
“Sometimes it looks true but it will always be a lie,” he continued. He had just been asked how he had cultivated a reputation as a manager who does not afford opportunities to youth players. The press conference ended with him handing out sheets of paper to assembled journalists, detailing the 49 players he had promoted from youth systems to the first team throughout his 16-year career as a manager. It included Carlos Alberto, who had already won a league title in Brazil before he joined Mourinho’s Porto. It included Arjen Robben, who had 100 career appearances to his name before moving to Chelsea. It included Luca Caldirola, who never actually featured for his Inter Milan side.
While transparent, this was Mourinho at his devious best. It was a necessary olive branch offered to United fans who still held reservations over his appointment. They could come to accept his confrontational nature and pragmatic playing style if results were the reward, but his supposed stance on younger players would have to change.
In truth, the trepidation surrounded the future of just one individual. There was no panic on the streets of Manchester over Donald Love’s playing time, or over whether Joe Rothwell or Tyler Blackett would be held back. It was only ever the development of Marcus Rashford which made people nervous.
The 19-year-old watched on from the bench on Sunday at the Liberty Stadium, allowed to savour the rarest of commodities in his short career thus far: a rest. He witnessed a tall, physical side with an average outfield age of 28.7 cruise to victory against a woeful Swansea. It was a side very much built in Mourinho’s image – the world’s most expensive player Paul Pogba, at 23, was the youngest player in the starting line-up.
After a difficult run, it was back to basics for the Portuguese. His comments post-match were pointed – but only in the direction of Chris Smalling and Luke Shaw. “To compete you have to go to the limits,” he said. Rashford was never the target of the pointed message, but his case was pertinent nonetheless. He only made his first-team debut nine months ago, yet has become an integral member of the squad under two managers. It is impossible to deduce what his “limits” are at this stage, but he is surely close to exceeding them.
Since making his debut in memorable fashion against FC Midtjylland in the Europa League in February, Rashford has played 32 of a possible 37 games for Manchester United in all competitions. It is the most of any outfield player – yes, more than Juan Mata, more than Daley Blind (both 31). Many of those appearances have come from an unfamiliar position on the wing – a demanding role in a Mourinho side – and almost all of them have come in a team struggling for identity under two different managers. Combine that with the fact that he travelled with England to Euro 2016, and endured a miserable tournament before enjoying just two weeks of holiday in the summer, and his recent downturn in form is understandable. Never mind the physical implications, the psychological effects should not be underestimated.
And yet his inclusion in Gareth Southgate’s latest 25-man England squad was barely noteworthy. This is a mere teenager, one who is playing every week for a club with Champions League aspirations, who this time last year had never even scored for Manchester United’s Under-21 side, and who is showing the first signs of vulnerability and mortality, but few are questioning the wisdom of asking him to be available for a winnable World Cup qualifier and a friendly. He earned a rest long ago; he is still waiting ten months to be afforded a substantial one by either club or country.
Not that some pundits feel a rest is even necessary. Ian Wright insisted Rashford was “rotting” out on the wing under Mourinho; Alan Shearer maintains that he must play up front alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Both were searching for remedies to his poor form; neither spotted that he is simply knackered.
Perhaps Mourinho envisaged such a scenario. Back in August, the manager said that Rashford should be expected to “have ups and downs” at his age, but that United and England “have to be ready to support him” at those times. You have to wonder whether this endless stream of games is in his best interest at this stage.
Back in the summer, the genera consensus was that Mourinho was the wrong manager to guide Rashford, to polish his incredible talents. The manager defended his record, but that did little to assuage the fear that he would not play often enough, and that his development and growth as a player would be stunted. The apprehension remains, but only because he is suffering from a case of far too much, far too soon. It is a difficult balancing act, granted, but one his club and country might well be struggling to pull off thus far.
Matt Stead
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