Marcus Rashford was Manchester United’s biggest asset last season. Instead, he is now one of their main worries.
During Monday night’s victory over Wigan, the 26-year-old had early glimpses of promise. However, those signs soon gave way to frustration as his team proceeded to miss plenty of scoring opportunities.
He is the ultimate confidence player, and right now he lacks it. But he still has his manager’s faith. Though he believes that all it would take is one successful game for him to regain his swagger, Erik ten Hag is fully aware of his difficulties.
Since there isn’t any actual competition for Rashford in his preferred left wing role, his spot in the starting eleven nearly seems safe as it has always been.
Since the inverted winger position plays to Rashford’s abilities of sprinting at defenders and cutting inside onto his superior right foot, it is commonly known that he enjoys playing that role. Of the 30 goals he scored last season, 17 came while he played on the left wing, however he also scored a lot of them when he drifted there in games where he was officially classified as a center-forward.
The match this coming Saturday against Tottenham is expected to be goal-filled, and with it, Rashford may finally get back to the elite form Ten Hag was counting on this season. It is difficult to imagine him losing his position entirely, even if he doesn’t.
Alejandro Garnacho was Rashford’s only realistic opponent on the left wing, but following strong showings against Aston Villa and Wigan, he is now the preferred option on the right wing. Incredibly, the young Argentinean is currently ranked higher than right wing experts Anthony, Facundo Pellistri, and Amad, while Jadon Sancho is very certain to join Borussia Dortmund on loan.
Garnacho is still the greatest backup option on the left wing, but given how well he has played there lately, it would be incorrect to transfer him to the right. Rashford could be as safe as ever in the United team as a result, which is both a plus and a negative. Ten Hag’s continued belief in the England international to start most games may help him, but the player may also be suffering from a lack of competition and the ensuing complacency.
Garnacho may be shifted back to the left if his problems in the upcoming games persist, but that will only happen if someone else performs as well on the right as he has lately.
Ten Hag’s quest for consistency must also be taken into account. The manager of United feels that the team’s unpredictability has contributed significantly to their difficulties this season, and he would really like to be able to lock down a consistent starting lineup.
His front three are crucial to that, and even though they haven’t suffered too many offensive setbacks this year, it wouldn’t make sense to switch up the forward line now that they are finally getting important players back in other areas of the field.
Despite his poor performance, Rashford will still be offered opportunities.