Marcus Rashford's big audition for José Mourinho's Manchester United will come against Arsenal on Saturday if he is handed the No9 berth. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's one-game suspension means a vacancy opens up at centre-forward in a major match for the first time since Mourinho took over and made the Swede his totem signing.
It was against Arsenal that Rashford got his first Premier League goals last February, scoring twice after he had done the same on debut against Midtjylland three days earlier, and he will hope to lay down another marker against Arsène Wenger’s side.
Ibrahimovic’s much-trumpeted arrival on a free transfer posed a question of Rashford: what would it mean for him following a stellar beginning to a career in which the teenager was last season’s hot prospect and he was swept all the way to playing for England at Euro 2016?
Rashford became a virtual fixture in the lone-striker role for Louis van Gaal’s United – a run that included starting May’s FA Cup final and ended with eight goals in 18 appearances. He also scored once – on debut – for England, yet when United travelled to Bournemouth on the season’s opening day the answer to the question was not what he hoped for.
Ibrahimovic was at centre-forward, which was no great surprise, yet Rashford was dropped, which did raise eyebrows. His mix of rawness, pace, dribbling prowess and finishing is unique to Mourinho’s squad but the manager could find no place for him in the XI, nor as a replacement.
United beat Eddie Howe’s side 3-1 and the story remained the same when Southampton visited next: Ibrahimovic was up top, Rashford was on the bench, and United won 2-0, the Swede scoring both goals to follow one against Bournemouth.
Another element of Rashford’s is an ability to break a contest open and cast himself as unignorable. Just as the debut goals against Midtjylland in that Europa League match said to Van Gaal “Just try to drop me”, so Rashford sent Mourinho a message in a first competitive appearance for him, at Hull City.
United were heading towards a disappointing goalless draw before Rashford entered as 71st-minute replacement and fired home a dying-moments winner. The Wythenshawe boy screamed in delight and raced to the travelling support for a group hug. The delirium illustrated another element of what makes Rashford special: being a local boy, he fully comprehends the fans’ connection to the side.
Rashford’s feet remain on terra firma. He was 19 on the final day of October, has debut goals for United – in Europe, the Premier League, and the Manchester derby – and for the senior England and under-21 sides. Yet there is zero sign of any fall-off in focus or attitude.
The issue is Ibrahimovic. Rashford has made 13 appearances this season. Ten have been starts, starting with the 1-0 defeat at Feyenoord on 15 September, which illustrates how he has forced his way into Mourinho’s plans. Yet the statistics suggest his impact is hindered by having to operate out wide because of the manager’s preference for Ibrahimovic.
Rashford has played only once as the spearhead – against Feyenoord – and has four goals, the others coming in the 3-1 loss at Watford, a 3-1 EFL Cup win at Northampton and in the 4-1 defeat of Leicester City. In the Premier League his shot accuracy rate has halved from last season’s 88.89% to 44.44%, meaning conversion is down from 31.25% to 21.43%. In 11 league starts last term he created two goals and scored five; this season there have been no assists in eight starts and three goals. Those five came every 172 minutes, whereas this season’s have come every 192.
Rashford’s last goal was on September 24th so his drought is now seven matches. There would be no surprise, though, if the barren run ended against Arsenal.
Before last season’s corresponding game Ron Jamieson, chairman of Rashford’s first club, Fletcher Moss Rangers, told the Guardian: “When [WAYNE]Rooney came in he was moving everybody out of the way. So maybe Rooney should move out the way.”
For Saturday's 12.30pm GMT kick-off at Old Trafford, Ibrahimovic has been forced aside. Yet Wayne Rooney still represents an option at centre-forward, as does Anthony Martial. If Rashford gets the nod he will know Mourinho at least views him ahead of the captain and Frenchman for the position.
Whether he can keep Ibrahimovic from being reinstated seems unlikely, though. All Rashford can do is what he has serious form for doing: wrest the contest United’s way by scoring and/or being a key factor, and give Mourinho something to consider as the season enters the mid-winter period which can decide a team’s fortunes.
(Guardian service)
