Man Utd players Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford look like they need the season to end but can look to Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney for inspiration. If Manchester United were not aimlessly hoofing the ball towards the end where their away supporters were housed it is unlikely many would have approached them at the final whistle. The scene of every outfield player, stood in unison and applauding the travelling fans, is an unusual one in defeat and only Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Young bothered at the conclusion of that lamentable Leicester draw in December. That was the evening Marcus Rashford’s incurred Jose Mourinho’s wrath. United supporters may have done their utmost to wipe the memory of that stalemate but, taking Friends’ cue, it was the one where Anthony Martial hacked over with Kasper Schmeichel begging for mercy, Jesse Lingard missed an open goal and Rashford’s decision-making was ‘childish’.
Three days earlier, Rashford had bungled a two-on-one at Bristol City and at the King Power Stadium he botched a three-on-one. With United on the counter against 10 men in injury time, he inexplicably checked his run and played the ball backwards. The screen shot went viral and Rashford’s form has seldom recovered. Mourinho said last season Luke Shaw used ‘his body with my brain’ and Rashford is often within earshot of his manager but the message is not getting across. Rashford ranges from lively to liability and he was guilty of dubious choices in the narrow January win over Burnley and in last month’s FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham.
His indecision was such that rather than accept the foul from Davinson Sanchez or skip away from him down the left flank, he belatedly fell to the turf and was booked for simulation. Mourinho, arms outstretched, demanded an answer. He adopted that stance again in Brighton. Notice how Rashford is making such selections without Alexis Sanchez on the pitch. Bristol, Leicester and Burnley were all pre-Sanchez and Sanchez was switched to accommodate Rashford against Spurs. When Rashford failed to angle a pass for Anthony Martial at Brighton on Friday night, Sanchez was recovering from injury in his Cheshire home. Rashford only had himself to blame. It is fair of Gary Neville to say Sanchez’s arrival has had a ‘negative impact’ on Rashford and Martial. Rashford has started three Premier League matches in the wake of Sanchez’s signing and Martial only five of a possible dozen. Only it is worth recalling Martial lined up in three of Sanchez’s first four league starts. It was only when the Frenchman succumbed to injury in early March that his lingering momentum ended, enabling Rashford to briefly rediscover his form against Crystal Palace and Liverpool.
Martial has put up about as much of a fight as David Haye to stay ahead of Sanchez and his last goal was two days before Sanchez’s piano playing on Twitter. United’s use of the ‘Martial FC’ hashtag on the same platform continued again against Brighton and he failed to live up to the billing again. The best French forward at the AmEx Stadium was Anthony Knockaert.
