OUT WITH THE OLD: RASHFORD MUST REPLACE ZLATAN IN MAN UTD NO.9 ROLE

0The Red Devils are famed for producing incredible talent — so why is Jose Mourinho wasting one of their most promising prodigies on the wing?

Why is Marcus Rashford playing on the wing? It’s a pointless exercise. He’s either a key part of this Manchester United team or he’s not. Jose Mourinho is currently making a token effort. First-team football for the 18-year-old is no use if it’s coming on the periphery and not at the center of operations.

Mourinho rightly came under pressure to include the teen prodigy after leaving him out of Manchester United’s first two league games entirely. It wasn’t until that late winner against Hull City that the Portuguese seemed truly convinced by his unique match-winning qualities.

Even so, he won’t permit Rashford to play in his favored striking position, instead opting to field him either side of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the flanks. It’s a positive that Mourinho is playing him by choice as usually only extreme injury problems would force him to turn to youth. But life in Zlatan’s shadow is not what Rashford needs nor is it making the best use of his talent in Trafford.

A big accusation leveled against Zlatan during his Paris Saint-Germain career was that he could score back-heel volleys against Bastia right enough but was unable to replicate that sort of cocksure dominance in the Champions League. Well, with all due respect to United, it doesn’t need someone to perform on the Champions League stage at the minute because the Red Devils are not in it.

Ibrahimovic was brought in to feast upon the fodder in the Premier League. United last season gave up points in the league against Newcastle, Swansea, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth, Norwich, Stoke, Southampton, Sunderland and West Brom — precisely the sort of opposition Zlatan specialises against. They slipped behind the frontrunners last season because they haemorrhaged points against the lesser lights.

This season was supposed to be different. Mourinho — a ruthless manager — and Ibra — a flat-track bully — would team up and earn United back those 15-18 points that it should not be giving away in the first place. It started off well — with Zlatan scoring four goals in his first four matches — but he’s dried up.