Man United loanee Marcus Rashford sparks 'positive' debate over recent form

Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford has sparked a ‘positive’ debate among pundits over his recent form as Aston Villa saw off Preston North End in a 3-0 FA Cup win.

Unai Emery’s Villa side has now secured a tie with Crystal Palace at Wembley in the semi-finals, which shows more evidence of the great job the Spaniard is doing.

This is perhaps a clear sign of what must be so positive from a Villa point of view right now.

Solidifying the benefits of Monchi’s January business that has made such a difference – both Rashford and Marco Asensio are contributing excellently.

The manager Emery deserves more credit for the duo’s upturn in form -a sign of a manager who knows how to motivate a player and make them feel valued.

In hindsight, Villa might choose to keep Rashford once his loan expires in the summer.

Going back to Rashford’s performance against Preston in the FA Cup, all of Micah Richards, Alan Shearer, and Gary Lineker were impressed by the 27-year-old’s performance when analysing his display on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast.

Richards spoke extensively about Rashford’s inputs at Villa before his fellow two pundits concluded that the forward’s current resurgence in form wasn’t a good look for Man Utd.

Marcus Rashford found the back of the net twice against Preston North End in the FA Cup tie. (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)

Richards began:

“It just, and I hate saying body language because certain players have body language that looks like they don’t want to run, but Marcus is one of those players who comes alive when they’ve got the ball or in the counter attack.

“So sometimes when he’s not running around and pressing, it can look bad, but everything about his game, but I think it’s not just Rashford. I think it’s a system that he’s playing him.

“So because they’re playing well, the manager’s got a clear plan of what they want to do. All the rest of the players press really well. So it’s almost like he has to join in, even though that’s not the strength of his game.

“But I just thought his all-round games, his runs were really good, very good timing – when to sort of drop off was very good.

“A lot of work was going down there, right hand side. He was finding space on the left. And I just thought it was a really accomplished performance.”

As the ‘positive’ conversation went on, Shearer and Gary joined in with their submission as well;

Shearer replied: “It’s not a good look for Man United, is it?”

Lineker added: “No, I was thinking the same thing.”

Richards: “No, no, but in fairness, Alan, it’s, and we didn’t have too much time to go into it.

“Where would he be or where would he play for Man United? So he’s not really a number nine, is he? He’s a wide forward, I believe, from the left.

“So if Man United want to play a three at the back and the wing backs, he’s not a wing back, and he’s not on number 10, is he? So that system doesn’t really work for him.”

Currently, Villa will need to decide on whether they want to pursue permanent deals for both Rashford and Asensio in the summer, with both forwards currently earning high wages at Old Trafford and PSG, respectively.

Signing Rashford would undoubtedly make him Villa’s top earner based on his current contract even if he decides to reduce those wages.

With that supposedly over the line, snapping Asensio on a permanent deal won’t be cheap for Villa as well.

Paris Saint-Germain’s asking price for Asensio seems reasonable, but the Spaniard is also on significant pay check.