What is Marcus Rashford's best position?

Matt Morley 6 years ago 2.9k
Rashford scored twice against Burton on Wednesday. AFP

Having been largely used as a left winger last season, the youngster returned to the central striking role for Manchester United's Carabao Cup tie against Burton Albion on Wednesday and duly found the net twice, leaving the question: What is his best position?

The former Fletcher Moss Rangers man was in fine form against the Championship side, with former Manchester United defender and 'Sky Sports' pundit Phil Neville full of praise for his performance, saying 'This was an opportunity for Rashford to play centre-forward, the position he wants to play, and I thought his movement and his speed absolutely petrified the back three.'

Rashford is clearly rated by Jose Mourinho, no Manchester United player made more appearances for United last season than the English international, but the real question is quite where he fits into the United side.

If given the choice, there is no doubt that Rashford would prefer to lead the line, however, seven of his eight appearances this season have come as a left winger, though his most productive performance so far this term came on Wednesday when he scored twice and assisted another as a central striker.

Last season was a similar story for the 19-year-old, with 29 of his appearances coming out wide, producing four goals with another 22 appearances being made as a centre forward, producing six goals.

When we consider that 23 of those appearances came as a substitute the figures don't look too shabby at all.

Nevertheless, Rashford is aware that his role at United is far from guaranteed, the arrival of Romelu Lukaku in the summer and the imminent return to fitness of Zlatan Ibrahimovic have given United something of an embarrassment of riches up front, whilst competition in the wide areas is also stiff, with the like of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial vying for a spot in the team.

Interestingly, since Rashford's debut, only Ibrahimovic can top the youngster's contribution to United in terms of goals and assists with the Swede's tally of 37 (28 goals, 9 assists) just beating out Rahsford's total of 32 (24 goals, 8 assists).

United's failure to seal a summer deal for either Ivan Perisic or Gareth Bale may have been a blessing in disguise for Rashford, with the left wing berth looking very much his to lose.

Whether it is his best position or not is up for debate but the evidence suggests that Rashford is now United's first-choice left winger.

Mentioned in the news story

Premier League
Manchester United
M. Rashford