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What's the story?
Manchester United and England national team forward Marcus Rashford claimed that he should at least be on the bench of the FIFA 18 Team of the Year.
Ahead of the release of EA Sports' TOTY, Rashford said "I've at least got to make the bench."
In case you didn't know...
EA Sports is releasing the Team of the Year for FIFA 18 day by day according to the positions. They revealed the forwards list on Monday with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane making it to the final three.
The three of them got special Ultimate Team cards on the game with Cristiano getting a 99 rating, Messi with a 98 rating and Kane getting a 96 rating.
The heart of the matter
Anyone who follows Europan football would take a single second to say that currently, Rashford is behind many forwards playing in Europe and has a long way to go to even get a nomination for the FIFA TOTY.
The 20-year-old has only 4 goals this season in 23 appearances, with only 10 of them from the bench in the Premier League and 3 goals in 6 appearances in the Champions League in a group with no major European team in United's group.
He is not a first choice starter for either Gareth Southgate or Jose Mourinho. Southgate has found it hard to find a place for Rashford in England's starting XI with Alli, Kane, Sterling and Lallana continuously playing good. Mourinho too prefers Lukaku, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Ibrahimovic and Martial over the 20-year-old forward who is still finding his feet in Europe.
What's next?
Manchester United already look out of the title race of the Premier League but have a relatively easier opponent in Sevilla to face in the UEFA Champions League last 16 stage. He would make the England squad easily for the 2018 World Cup but isn't guaranteed a place in the starting XI.
Author's take
Rashford is definitely a star for the future and could make many EA Sports TOTYs in the coming years, but based on the calendar year he had, he shouldn't even make the bench this year.
