#2 Give Anthony Martial OR Marcus Rashford a sustained run in the side
It’s in the genetic make-up of Manchester United to place faith in the youth and it’s an avenue they’ve been forced to revisit during the desperate rebuilding in the wake of Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure. With new, big money additions not always performing in the past few years, United have had to look elsewhere for talent and youthful starlets within their ranks have delivered time and time again.
Although the club have gone through a catalogue of different formations this term from 4-3-2-1 to 4-3-3 to 3-5-2, there’s been consistency in Mourinho opting for wide midfielders; who those wide midfielders are has depended on the opponents, though.
Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney have been among the favourites to play out wide, but Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford could prove to be far more rewarding long term options. Both are incredibly pacey, agile and competent in front of goal but don’t get a long enough run in the team to establish any real form.
This season, for example, the longest run of matches Martial has had in the United team has been five, at the very beginning of the season. Since then, it’s been incredibly stop-start and the Frenchman is understandably frustrated that he’s not getting regular first-team action.
As for Rashford, he’s been fortunate to receive as many as 20 appearances but the majority have involved him playing out of position; perhaps if he were to play through the middle alongside Ibrahimovic, he would’ve returned more than just the three league goals this term.
For youth to develop they need to know they’re being trusted and, as it stands, United and Mourinho seem reluctant to take a punt and give the pair a long enough run in their preferred roles; a change in approach to this and they could repay the favour dramatically.
