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Why 'unplayable' Marcus Rashford must find goals to make himself indispensable to Jose Mourinho

Marcus Rashford of Manchester United in action during the Premier League match between Manchester United and West Ham United 
The Manchester United striker showcased so many of his qualities against West Ham; now he must add goals Credit: Getty Images

By the end, Pablo Zabaleta must have felt a lot older than his 32 years. The veteran Argentine will not have been the only West Ham player who was willing referee Martin Atkinson to blow his whistle but his team-mates were at least spared the task of trying to shackle Marcus Rashford throughout the piece. Zabaleta, on the other hand, never got a breather.

One former player who knows a fair bit about cutting in at pace from the left and wreaking havoc against defences is Thierry Henry, and from his position in the pundit’s chair for Sky Sports, the former Arsenal striker’s appraisal of Rashford’s performance at Old Trafford on Sunday was pretty unequivocal. “This man was, for me, in the second half unplayable,” Henry said.

There were a number of moments from Rashford that electrified the home crowd but a few stood out in particular. The first, most obviously, was a blistering 50-yard run, after Nemanja Matic did so well to force Pedro Obiang into losing possession, that left West Ham’s defence frantically backpedalling before the 19-year-old slipped an eye-of-the-needle pass in behind Winston Reid for Romelu Lukaku, timing his run well, to thump home off the inside of the left hand post. Later in the game, Rashford again had Zabaleta on the back foot before cutting inside Andre Ayew and unleashing a thundering drive from the corner of the penalty area that cannoned back off the inside of the far post. He also had the presence of mind to slip a pass into Henrikh Mkhitaryan after another good run that the Armenian in turn squared for Lukaku, whose shot was expertly blocked by Zabaleta.

Pablo Zabaleta of West Ham United and Marcus Rashford of Manchester United battle for possession during the Premier League match
Zabaleta will have been relieved to hear the final whistle after a challenging afternoon trying to nullify Rashford Credit:  Getty Images Europe

It was a performance that showcased many of his qualities: pace, raw energy, relentlessness and a growing awareness. All it lacked was a goal. And herein lies the challenge for Rashford – to add a regular supply of goals to his formidable arsenal. As a forward, it is what he will ultimately be judged on.

There was one instance in the second half when Rashford was released by a fine pass from Paul Pogba and, as he bore down on goal, his pace leaving West Ham’s bedraggled defenders trailing in his way, the teenager opened up his body in a bid to steer the ball into the far corner from 12 yards out but shot well wide. On another occasion, Pogba teed him up on the edge of the penalty area but, despite having time to steady himself, Rashford went for the harder option and blazed a bouncing ball high into the stands. Against West Ham, the misses did not matter. United were cruising, the game already won. But against better opponents when there are fewer openings, Rashford must begin to demonstrate the cutting edge Jose Mourinho wants and expects. A case in point was in the European Super Cup on Tuesday when, with United trailing 2-1 to Real Madrid, Mkhitaryan put Rashford through. A goal beckoned but Rashford was thwarted. Contrast that to Isco’s savvy finish one-on-one against David De Gea to put Real 2-0 up. It was a similar story for much of last season and a reason Mourinho has called upon his attacking players to ensure the scoring burden does not rest overly heavily on Lukaku, as it did Zlatan Ibrahimovic last time out.

The irony is that dead-eyed finishing all looked so natural and easy for Rashford when he burst on to the scene in the final months of Louis van Gaal’s last season in charge but Mourinho, for one, has been keen to point out that there was no pressure on the youngster then. “It was a season where nobody demands, nobody knows him, he comes in and makes an impact, he feels free,” the United manager said. “The second season was always going to be a difficult one, but I think the third season is going to be the good one again.”

Rashford went 197 days last season between scoring against Leicester in the Premier League and his next goal in the competition, at Sunderland in April. Despite everything else he offers, he can ill afford a repeat of that sort of barren run this term as he looks to make himself indispensable to Mourinho, but if West Ham is a taste of what he will offer over the next 10 months, the goals should flow. The partnership with Lukaku certainly augurs well. “With me and Marcus, there’s something special,” Lukaku said after scoring twice on his home debut against West Ham. “Hopefully we can produce even more [in the future] than we did today. We clicked from the first day that I arrived, and I knew that he would help me settle in at the club.”

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