The translation from training to real games isn't for everyone. Some players have high football intelligence and some are just more instinctive. As long as Rashford will use his pace and one of his main weapons, we won't see what you described. For that we'd need him to slow down a little, lift his head up and assess his options. The few times he does it (against Forrest for Casemiro's goal) , he's showed great passing ability. It just doesn't happen too often
10
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 43
- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 5
- Yellow cards
- 2
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Noticed this as well, Højlund pulled to the right and the arsenal defence got in-between them. I also think that Rashford was surprised to see him there, he's normally on his own. It's the first game together Højlund and Rashford it's going to be interesting this season if højlund plays a lot.
The hyperbole on here after a defeat on here is insane.
As I said on the forum yesterday, his record in the big games is very, very good. He also scored 30 goals last season the year after his worst campaign for us.
To compare him to Sancho is crazy.
People used to say he escaped criticism because he is homegrown. Now I think, he gets more criticism because he is homegrown.
I think a lot of our fans underrate him and take him for granted.
He is one of the best big game players in the league(and by far our best player in this regard) - his UCL record is also fantastic(in a small/limited sample size).
He is one of the best big game players in the league(and by far our best player in this regard) - his UCL record is also fantastic(in a small/limited sample size).
The clip in mind, I'd blame Antony for that the most.
I felt like he should have been wider in his run to free up more space for Hojlund centrally and then for Rashford as well. Arsenal did defend that pretty well too, but I thought Hojlund and Antony were kind of making the same run in the same channel. Antony ideally should have varied his run more.
I thought he was our most dangerous player.
Hojlund wasn't special last nite, he was doing what any striker does on every day that ends with Y
Pressing, off the ball movement, buzzing around making himself open for passes. Now Imagine if 4 of our front players did the basic rights on top of what they offer, we'd be miles better.
That's what infuriates me, laziness. I don't expect player to pull off a Messiesque Solo run every match, but I do expect them to run and press for 90 minutes, hell or even 60.
The way he nonchalantly Jogged around all games while earning 300k per week. It's not even about salary, players in Championship level paid peanuts runs more than him.
https://www.premierleague.com/news/... at teams who,covered across their 15 matches.
4th from bottom, awful for a team who's not even old and supposed to be in prime years.
Pressing, off the ball movement, buzzing around making himself open for passes. Now Imagine if 4 of our front players did the basic rights on top of what they offer, we'd be miles better.
That's what infuriates me, laziness. I don't expect player to pull off a Messiesque Solo run every match, but I do expect them to run and press for 90 minutes, hell or even 60.
The way he nonchalantly Jogged around all games while earning 300k per week. It's not even about salary, players in Championship level paid peanuts runs more than him.
https://www.premierleague.com/news/... at teams who,covered across their 15 matches.
4th from bottom, awful for a team who's not even old and supposed to be in prime years.
Because every manager is right?Yeah sure it’s Rashford’s fault
Glad Ten Hag can see the bigger picture and plays him whenever he’s fit.
Maybe you think you know better. Feel free to prove it.
Didn't catch it live but watched the replay of Arsenal's third goal - The way Marcus pussied out of that challenge is one of the most cowardly piece of play I have seen in a long time. Put your body on the line ffs.
He’s our only dangerous player. Casemiro is our second biggest threat from open play and that says it all.
They are when the player then has a 40 GA season, yes.
In two matches at LW this season, Rashford has a goal, an assist, a penalty won and played the key pass in the only other goal we’ve scored in those matches. Feels ETH is probably making the correct call in continuing to play him really…
True
Jose, Ole, Van Gaal, Ten Hag or Caf posters? Decisions decisions
Being a liability defensively, working as hard as a 54 year old lead singer of a 90s indie band at a charity match isn't compensated by getting an assist or even scoring a goal
Nothing epitomises the collapse of standard at this football club more than Rashford being held up as an example .
Nothing epitomises the collapse of standard at this football club more than Rashford being held up as an example .
Better from him in the work ethic department and took his goal well but he looked dead again by the 70 min mark. Personally don't think he should be seeing out the whole 90 week in, week out because he doesn't look like he has it in him atm. Feel like it should have been Garnacho for Rashford yesterday.
Rashford's limit should be as an impact sub. His work rate was higher than usual yesterday but that's probably not the highest of standards. But even with that he still has the footballing brain of a 16 year old. It's frustrating that all his experiences and nothing seems to go in. His use of the ball outside the narrow scenario of being one on one with the keeper is consistently poor.
We saw when Hojlund came on, just his energy made all the difference and it's nothing even the worst player on the pitch couldn't have done. Yet Rashford sulks in protest for being payed "out of position".
The tolerance of that will always be a disgrace.
We saw when Hojlund came on, just his energy made all the difference and it's nothing even the worst player on the pitch couldn't have done. Yet Rashford sulks in protest for being payed "out of position".
The tolerance of that will always be a disgrace.
I was obviously talking about his physicality (or lack thereof). He constantly shies away from physical challenges and is often laughably easily brushed off the ball.
It is difficult to find Rashford because his first touch is quite poor. He could receive balls steadily only when he stay wide and facing goal. All other situation he could not control the ball well enough to link up plays or hold till support come. With this technical limitation, it would not worth building team around him. I honestly think he has reached his potential ceiling. We would see glimpse of quality from time to time, but he won't give consistent performance.
ETH should coach the game plan to more build around Hojlund , not the other way around to sacrifice Hojlund to muscle around and create space for Rashford so he could just play wasteful solo wonder goals
ETH should coach the game plan to more build around Hojlund , not the other way around to sacrifice Hojlund to muscle around and create space for Rashford so he could just play wasteful solo wonder goals
Pretty sure he does this every other week
But he's so dangerous...
He is and that's why he is in the team. Because he was our top scorer lasts season and more or less our most effective goal threat he gets some leniency from the manager. This is what happens in football, sometimes your star player can get away with things others can't.
If we had more quality in the side, he woudln't be able to get away with it and this is why ETH has been demanding better players to create competition.
Him and Bruno to be fair, although in matches against big teams Bruno gets dragged into defensive midfield duties leaving Rashford as our sole threat. The fact he still gets goals and assists when every defence doubles up on him is testament to how good he is.
This is where Hojlund could be transformational for us in occupying defences, keeping the ball, and freeing up Rashford.
He's a very funny player. We'd never have made top 4 without him but we'll also never win the league with him.
Fair enough, he wasn't great at times yesterday but has constantly been shafted to different positions and probably lacks expertise in one role/position. Not helped by having four permanent managers in 7 years during an important stage in his development.
Despite that, he is still one of our most important playes, regularly scores goals in the biggest matches. His biggest crime off the pitch was he spent some time launching a campaign to get poor children fed during lockdown.
The criticism he receives every time the team doesn't win is bizarre.
WHY DID WE GIVE LAST SEASONS TOP SCORER A NEW CONTRACT??? screams the fans of Manchester United.
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I don't know. Accepting that his laziness and lack of contribution to the play and him being a liability because he scores goals, does have a tinge of Stockholm syndrome.
Expecting a player to deliver when he's on superstar wages to deliver and put in a shift at the same time to help out the team only became an insurmountable high bar to set when everyone felt obliged to persistently make excuses for Rashford.
Its accepted for some other players too that offer a lot going forward at other clubs, but I think the main point really is that until we have enough forward players of the required quality to put him under pressure it won't change.
He also does track back at times and does put in a shift, but he is not consistent with it and the main issue with him is he does not like contesting duels
This is why Rangnick went after him but of course, at this club player power is key, ETH is picking his battles
He would fit into almost any post 2003 United squad and had he been born 10 years earlier would have won numerous titles.
His contributions per season far outweigh the likes of Nani who won multiple titles. He'd have been the focal point of the club post 2009 Robaldo.
This is too simplistic. Nani was miles ahead of Rashford in linking the play. His vision, intelligence and first touch were on a different planet to Rashford.
It's a team game. It's entirely possible that you could find a player that wouldn't have got half the number of goals and assists Rashford got last year and still be looking at a player overall that contributed more to a team's success.
"Yeah his lack of effort made it really difficult for us to put pressure on the opposition and essentially handicapped us nearly every time we went forward and his lack of defensive duties meant our left back was exposed and their winger was able to run him ragged ... but he got an assist so even though we lost he's still our most dangerous player" is a sentiment i could not disagree with more. Yet essentially that's where the Rashford excuses lobby are now firmly pitched.
"Yeah his lack of effort made it really difficult for us to put pressure on the opposition and essentially handicapped us nearly every time we went forward and his lack of defensive duties meant our left back was exposed and their winger was able to run him ragged ... but he got an assist so even though we lost he's still our most dangerous player" is a sentiment i could not disagree with more. Yet essentially that's where the Rashford excuses lobby are now firmly pitched.
Nani was more of a support player, sure. Rashford is a far superior spearhead. It’s like comparing Giggs and Henry.
No that is a poor comparison.
Rashford is not a superior spearhead, he's a big fish in a small pond, Nani is superior to Rashford in most aspects of the game.
Nani won POTY in a time the competition in the PL was higher and the level of player at United was greater too.
Rashford is a good player, he's not on the level of the attacking talent we had previously, his technical deficiencies like his inability to control the ball properly without it being played into his path would have stood out like a sore thumb
Of course, different roles. Nani was an out and out winger, don't think he ever played in a 4-3-3 formation for United.
Nani had a much better team around him and I don’t agree that Rashford has such technical deficiencies. I think Rashford would be absolutely devastating as part of a front 4 with Rooney, RVP and Valencia, with Carrick providing control in the midfield and Evra supporting. In contrast, I think Nani would have really struggled to make an impact with the likes of Weghorst and Antony next to him.
Ultimately, we can all have our view on who is the better player between Nani and Rashford but the reality is that they both had excellent careers with us - Nani’s was cut a little short whereas Rashford could still go on to be one of our greats.
It just gets so tiring on this website reading so much endless criticism of one of the best players in our team. I’d like him to work harder at times and occasionally he can be sloppy in possession but neither of those criticisms are fair based on yesterday’s match and yet we still see them repeated ad infinitum by the usual suspects above. If we get top players around him, I suspect he will go up another level, rather than being “exposed” in any way as seems to be suggested.
Quality goal yesterday...strange how much his good points are taken for grated and almost ignored. But that's just the way it is.
He will have a couple of games on the LW now as the CF position looks a bit more healthy with Hojlund.
1 goal and 1 assist...he is off the mark and the least of the managers worries.
He will have a couple of games on the LW now as the CF position looks a bit more healthy with Hojlund.
1 goal and 1 assist...he is off the mark and the least of the managers worries.
Rashford would be good with them yes. Better than Nani no. Rashford is a very individualistic player and does not excel like Nani did in linking with others.
He is also not a better dribbler, passer, crosser and even shooter than Nani with both feet.
We will just go around in circles with this argument. Rashford is an individualistic player because he has to be. He was far less so for example when he had a healthy Martial upfront to link up with.
Nani was himself actually incredibly selfish at times (probably more so than Rashford) but, as part of a great team, learnt to be more of a team player. A 25 year old Nani playing LW would most definitely have been playing hero ball in the United team of the last year or two.
He was still very individualistic when playing with Martial and would often run up blind alleys with the ball.
No one said he can’t link up with others. He does the same for England where he has Kane and Saka etc. its just the way he is, he wants to score first and foremost.
And that’s his job. As I said before, he’s literally the spearhead of the team, even if he does it from inside left, exactly as someone like Mo Salah does from inside right.
Salah gets assists for fun
He gets a similar number to Rashford. 51 to 40 over the last 4 seasons, when playing in a better team. If you take out the season when Rashford managed 2, they are virtually identical on average per season.
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