Was Jose Mourinho justified in singling out Rashford’s rivals to defend his use of Man Utd’s No.10?

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Jose Mourinho has been extremely cavalier in defending his development of Marcus Rashford recently. 

The Manchester-born youngster has looked like a player on the edge of brilliance since exploding onto the scene with four goals in his first two games back in 2016.

And while you would be a fool to say that Rashford has failed to live up to the expectations bestowed upon him since that dazzling introduction, the 20-year-old hasn’t quite sparkled in the same way that the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Marco Asensio have.

Many corners of the media have blamed Jose Mourinho’s use of Rashford as one reason why he hasn’t yet elevated himself to a world-class level, claiming the 55-year-old hasn’t given him the minutes he needs to develop – this only gained more credence when Rashford bagged two goals in the recent international break.

However, backing his methods in the same way a stubborn child will insist they are never wrong, Mourinho has come out fighting and insisted his handling of Rashford has been the best the forward could wish for, even singling out some other English youngsters (Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke) to prove his point.

So, is this another case of toys being thrown out of Mourinho’s pram? Or is Jose, in fact, polishing what is to become the jewel in the Three Lions’ crown for years to come?

Read on to find out how Rashford stacks up against his fellow English youngsters.

Marcus Rashford

(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Club: Manchester United
Age: 20
Man Utd Debut: 25th February 2016 v FC Midtjylland
Games played (for Man Utd): 126
Minutes (for Man Utd): 7,280
Goals (for Man Utd): 32
Assists (for Man Utd): 17

As previously mentioned, Rashford has been on the cusp brilliance ever since he broke onto the scene.

Averaging just over a goal every four games is more than just respectable for a player who is still only 20-years-old and is often utilised as a winger by Jose Mourinho – and infamously as a wing-back in emergency circumstances.

Mourinho is also right to point out that Rashford is easily the most experienced out of these four players, already being capped 27 times by England, while his 7,280 minutes played for Man Utd is pretty monumental when you consider that he has only been playing first-team football for two-and-a-half seasons.

No player currently aged under 21 has completed more minutes for a Premier League club since Rashford’s debut in 2016, while he has also played more matches (126) for a Premier League club than any other player in that time.

Dominic Solanke

(Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images)

Club: Liverpool
Age: 21
Liverpool Debut: 16th August 2017 v Hoffenheim
Games played (for Liverpool): 27
Minutes (for Liverpool): 726
Goals (for Liverpool): 1
Assists (for Liverpool): 1

You have to feel a certain amount of sympathy for Dominic Solanke.

The 21-year-old striker left Chelsea for Liverpool in 2017 in search of more Premier League football following an U20 World Cup Golden Boot and a stunning goal return at youth level.

He arrived at Anfield, however, only to be faced with the Everest-like task of overhauling Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino in Liverpool’s forward line.

Of course, Solanke has not managed to scale that particular mountain thus far and has been restricted to 27 mainly substitute appearances, clocking up 726 minutes of football for the Reds in the process.

What Solanke would have hoped for, however, was some telling contributions during those minutes on the pitch, but that hasn’t happened yet either.

Just one goal, in a 4-0 home win over Brighton on the final day of last season, and one assist makes for underwhelming statistical reading and although it would be outright cruel to question the Reading-born forward’s work-rate, he just has not produced so far in a Liverpool shirt.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Club: Chelsea
Age: 22
Chelsea Debut: 10th December 2014 v Sporting Lisbon
Games played (for Chelsea): 34
Minutes (for Chelsea): 1,203
Goals (for Chelsea): 2
Assists (for Chelsea): 5

From the outside looking in, 59 professional club appearances, nine caps for England and even World Cup game time under his belt, Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s career looks to be one finally taking shape.

However, upon further inspection, it is one of false-starts and engine failure.

The telling stat for Loftus-Cheek is that of the 3,168 professional minutes he has clocked in his club career so far, 1,965 of them came while on loan at Crystal Palace last season.

Following his impressive World Cup with England, Loftus-Cheek returned to Stamford Bridge with the intention of nailing down his place in the starting XI.

However, his path is currently being blocked by Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley, with Loftus-Cheek managing just 33 minutes of football for the Blues this season.

The eldest of this particular quartet, the point Jose Mourinho was trying to make is obvious. It is worth noting, however, that although it was Mourinho who handed Loftus-Cheek his debut at Chelsea, the development and transition into the first team stopped there.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

(Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

Club: Everton
Age: 21
Everton Debut: 13th December 2016 v Arsenal
Games played (for Everton): 59
Minutes (for Everton): 3,004
Goals (for Everton): 12
Assists (for Everton): 7

In terms of performances for their parent club, minutes played, goals scored and assists, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is comfortably Rashford’s closest challenger from the players singled out by Jose Mourinho.

Despite being seemingly willing to run through a brick wall for his teammates, Calvert-Lewin’s form has been somewhat inconsistent for the Toffees, turning in as many head-scratching moments as flashes of brilliance.

But, with three goals in four games at the start of the new season, this rough diamond may just be carving himself into a thing of beauty.

Dominic Solanke’s strike partner in the aforementioned U20 World Cup, it was the Everton forward that scored the winning goal in the final. He is yet to make an appearance for the senior side, however, and that is perhaps another reason for Mourinho’s emphasis on him.

The Man Utd manager must be doing something right if Rashford is being called up by Southgate, right?

Verdict

(Photo credit PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho’s relationship with the press – even his own players and fans – can often be viewed as ‘complicated’ at best and, in many cases, that is with good reason.

In this instance, however, Mourinho is spot on and his statistical breakdown of his use of Marcus Rashford is fully vindicated – even if we all know he had to ‘Google’ the numbers.

Rashford has outplayed, outscored and outshone his fellow English youngsters across the board and is arguably England’s best hope of producing a talent to rival the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Marco Asensio and Ousmane Dembele for future Balon d’Or awards.

Perhaps the problem is that even though Rashford has played more minutes, there is an underlying feeling that it should be even more – as it should be for all English players – and accumulated from the start of the match.

The post Was Jose Mourinho justified in singling out Rashford’s rivals to defend his use of Man Utd’s No.10? appeared first on Squawka News.



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