Marcus Rashford is a rare example of a young player earning the trust of Jose Mourinho and as he turns 20, his Manchester United future looks bright
- Man United striker Marcus Rashford celebrates 20th birthday on Tuesday
- The youngster was United's youngest starter by three years against Tottenham
- Rashford has won the trust of Jose Mourinho, who prefers experience
- But Rashford has shown fortitude to thrive under one of the toughest bosses
Marcus Rashford was Manchester United's youngest starter by more than three years against Tottenham on Saturday.
As he celebrates his 20th birthday on Tuesday when United face Benfica in the Champions League, perhaps the biggest testimony to his talent is that he's getting a proper chance to play under Jose Mourinho.
In general, Mourinho prefers experienced players, course and distance winners who know the drill.
Marcus Rashford has become an integral part of Jose Mourinho's plans at Old Trafford
Rashford is wrapped up warm as he trains on Monday ahead of the meeting with Benfica
He has the chance to celebrate his 20th birthday in style as United take on Benfica
It was back in February last year that Rashford announced himself against Midtjylland
A smiling Rashford pictured in United training last week as his 20th birthday approaches
For the weekend's important 1-0 win, Romelu Lukaku (24) and Eric Bailly (23) were the only other players aged under 25 chosen to start besides Rashford.
Indeed, Mourinho's arrival at Old Trafford has coincided with several youngsters leaving either on loan or permanent deals, including Adnan Januzaj, Andreas Pereira, Will Keane and Josh Harrop.
Anthony Martial, 21, is the other great hope of the younger United generation and Mourinho seems to prefer the stick to the carrot with the Frenchman.
He didn't even go overboard about his winner against Spurs, describing it as a 'bad shot'.
But amongst the cynicism about young players, and the worry they are often inconsistent, Rashford has shown the mentality to thrive under the toughest of managers.
Rashford celebrates with Romelu Lukaku after United scored against West Ham in August
Rashford celebrates scoring during his United debut against Danish side Midtjylland
Rashford has scored some crucial goals, including this winner at Manchester City in 2016
He has appeared in 16 first-team matches for United, scoring seven goals, and even more impressively has started seven of their 10 Premier League games, coming on as substitute in the other three.
Sometimes, he's been given a wide role – and can play right or left – sometimes he's been pushed closer to Lukaku.
Mourinho withdrew him after 70 minutes on Saturday, which left the crowd grumbling, but the manager made sure his contribution was noted afterwards.
'Tottenham's defence have three very good central defenders but they'd had a hard match against Rashford and Lukaku,' he reflected when asked to comment on Martial's winner.
Rashford's mentality is as important as his pace and trickery. England manager Gareth Southgate, who views that side of the game as extremely important in pressure situations, is also a big fan.
He seized on his chance when injuries forced Louis van Gaal to give him a debut aged 18 in February 2016, scoring twice against Midtjylland, and he hasn't looked back since.
He already has 26 senior goals for United – a tremendous figure for a player just leaving his teens.
His first season in the senior United side ended in FA Cup success against Crystal Palace
The striker helped United win the UEFA Europa League by beating Ajax back in May
Those goals are often important – the Europa League semi-final winner in Celta Vigo last season, and he scored England's World Cup qualifying winner against Slovakia last month.
It's one of the reasons why Mourinho was happy to let Memphis Depay and Wayne Rooney leave United this year.
Mourinho is also a fan of Rashford's work-rate, something Martial has to emulate. The United manager has reserved his biggest praise for the youngster when he's put in a shift for the team, as in the 1-0 win at Southampton in September.
'Marcus was phenomenal. He felt what everybody else felt in the team, that if we didn't concede we win three points, so let's fight hard not to concede,' said the United manager after that match.
It's a far cry from last season when Mourinho criticised his younger attacking players for lacking reliability.
Rashford required just three minutes to score on his England debut against Australia in 2016
He scored his second international goal in England win over Slovakia last month
This term, Rashford has used his pace and energy to stretch opposition defenders from the opening whistle, and also defended from the front. He is growing up and learning the right time and place to use his fantastic footwork.
'He's already special but one day he will be a world-beater,' says team-mate Phil Jones, who knows himself about the pressure of being a young player at United, having been compared to Duncan Edwards when he signed from Blackburn.
Mourinho knows the core of his first XI: David de Gea in goal, skipper Antonio Valencia at right-back, Phil Jones and Bailly as centre-half partners, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba to make up an imposing midfield engine room, Henrik Mkhitaryan at No 10 supporting Romelu Lukaku.
For the wide positions, he has four candidates for two positions; Rashford, Martial, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard.
It's a credit to Rashford that he's currently leading the pack, despite Mata and Martial both costing between £35million and £40m.
At 20, he's the exception that disproves Mourinho's general rule that you can't win anything with kids.
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