Jose Mourinho's analysis of Marcus Rashford in 2019 looks absolutely spot on now | OneFootball

Highlights

Pause

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 4:54

Loaded: 0.00%

Marcus Rashford has had a relatively successful career since his debut against FC Midtjylland in a Europa League fixture in 2016 due to an injury crisis at Manchester United at the time. The Englishman certainly seized this opportunity given to him by Louis van Gaal and has been an ever-present in the United side since.

However, the debate has raged on about where Rashford’s best position is — is it playing up front through the middle or is it playing off the left side of the attack?

What is Marcus Rashford's best position?

Rashford has played under five managers, each of whom has different ideas about where his best position is for the team. However, a clip has re-emerged from United’s draw with Liverpool four years ago at Old Trafford where one of his former managers explained why he is not suited to playing down the middle despite having the qualities to be a fantastic player.

Jose Mourinho was working as a pundit for Sky Sports during that fixture four years ago, and he gave a detailed analysis of why he believed that Rashford was not and would never play his best football at the centre of Manchester United’s forward line.

The clip has resurfaced following Rashford’s poor performance leading the line in United’s opening fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Red Devils attack struggled to function, with Rashford being a major reason why this was the case. He was eventually substituted as Erik ten Hag looked to see out proceedings with United 1-0 to the good as Rashford left the field of play, being replaced by Scott McTominay.

Mourinho was extremely complimentary about the ability that Rashford possesses, but believed that he would never be a 30-goal striker playing as the target number nine. The Portuguese manager then discussed the struggles that the forward faces when playing against defensive sides and teams that play the low block, precisely the type of team that United faced on Monday night in the shape of Wolves.

Rashford is a player with incredible pace that can stretch the majority of opponents and is always a threat when running onto a ball played behind a defence. However, a quality that has been questioned throughout his career has been his ability to hold up play, bring players into the game, and play passes through the defence for wingers to run onto.

Rashford has thrived when a player with those qualities has played alongside him, as he plays from the left. He has an impressive ability to cut in from the left and apply the required finish or wait at the back post, waiting for the ball, before usually slotting home. Since his debut, he has always looked to be one of the best left-sided attackers in the Premier League. The clinical nature of Rashford, his pace, and his intelligence of the position have made him an immense talent as a left-sided attacker.

However, Rashford has always expressed a desire to lead the United side through the middle. Yet, whenever he has led the line, his performances have always been questioned, despite having a handful of good performances in this position. The 25-year-old Mancunian has never looked poor in front of goal, as he currently has 76 goals in 241 Premier League games, but Mourinho has argued that he does not possess the other qualities necessary to play that position.

Video: Jose Mourinho on Marcus Rashford back in 2019

Ten Hag wants his striker to be able to drop into a number 10 role, creating space in the middle for the wide players. This striker role will either hold the ball and bring in the midfield, allowing them to create chances, or it will be occupied by an individual who can create opportunities for the players to get into those attacking positions. The best examples of players that occupied these roles during Ten Hag’s time at Ajax were Sebastian Haller, as he was able to hold the ball up, and Dušan Tadić, a player with an amazing ability to create chances from this position. Rashford does not possess the attributes that these players do, despite arguably being a better player than both examples.

Rashford did have a poor performance on Monday, however, it must be remembered that Manchester United are light on bodies that can play this position as new signing Rasmus Hojlund is injured until September, and Anthony Martial was only fit enough for the bench. Rashford was the best option to play that role against Wolves, having played it before, but when the squad is fully fit, expect to see him playing from the left. All should go according to plan for Ten Hag.

Rashford should only be deployed in the position leading the United attack in such situations, as despite being a competent player in this position, it is not a position he thrives in. This has been noticed by all of his managers during his time at Manchester United, despite the only vocal former manager being critical of Rashford in this position being Mourinho.

There is a reason that Rashford has always been placed back on the left side of the United attack and why each manager has gone about signing a central striker to lead the line and not entrusted Rashford to do so. Van Gaal signed Memphis Depay, Jose Mourinho signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku, and Ole Gunnar Solskjær signed Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani. His current manager has continued that search for a central striker to lead the line, with the signing of Hojlund being identified as the solution, not Rashford.

Mourinho made it clear in the clip that Rashford does not possess the ability to lead the Manchester United attack, but he has all the ability as a player on the left side of the attack, and he can continue to improve as he is still only 25 years old.

Rashford may be back to his best playing from the left as Manchester United play Tottenham Hotspur at 5:30pm on Saturday. This may be the case as Ten Hag looks to ensure that his side perform a lot better than they did against Wolves, or we may see the Dutchman place his faith in Rashford in this position as they go in search of another victory.