Realistic Expectations for Marcus Rashford at Manchester United in 2016/17

Marcus Rashford did not feature in Jose Mourinho’s first Premier League outing in charge of Manchester United. However, it would likely be a mistake to read too much into his exclusion.

The arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic always meant the Red Devils would be less reliant on the 18-year-old than they had to be at the back end of 2015/16.

It is tempting to be disappointed that Rashford has moved down the pecking order thanks to this summer’s transfer activity. However, the truth is that it will probably serve the youngster well not to have to carry United in the way he often did in the latter stages of last season.

After all, given his age, he is still physically developing, and the impact of leading the line for United could be serious. Being able to play fairly regular first-team football without being the main man seems just about perfect.

Addressing the subject of squad rotation, Mourinho told MUTV (h/t the club’s website):

It’s the first time I’ve worked with such a number of players because I’m used to working with 20 plus the keepers, and we have in the squad 23 plus the keepers—and even so we had to make decisions and let some players go on loan, and try to sell others.

But this group of 23 is a great group and I think in this moment—and I told them this—there is a little bit of frustration for the ones that I have not selected. They work hard to be in the match and they aren’t, and this is going to happen in the next two or three weeks because we have just one Premier League match.

But, in September, the League Cup starts, the Europa League starts, we start playing three matches a week and then everybody is involved and the squad is good. The empathy between the guys is really good too, so I’m happy with the squad.

Rashford is one of those players who will get his chance when September rolls around. In the Community Shield, he replaced Anthony Martial on the left wing, an interesting wrinkle in Mourinho’s management of the English youngster.

It had previously seemed likely Rashford would act as a backup for Ibrahimovic or possibly slot in on the right wing, as he did a couple of times under Louis van Gaal. When he did get some minutes on the left at Wembley, he looked his usual self—entirely unflustered by the circumstances and full of confidence in his own ability.

Against Bournemouth, it was Memphis Depay who got a run out as Martial’s replacement, emphasising the rotational challenge facing Mourinho. Memphis had not even been on the bench at Wembley, but here he was getting competitive minutes.

More two touch. It’s hypnotic. Plus Memphis spin on the ball to Rashford’s control is ??? @br_uk pic.twitter.com/j9A884nz2L

— Paul (@UtdRantcast) August 14, 2016

There are obviously a lot of players …

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