Marcus Rashford is off to a good start to his professional career, but if he wants to join the greats, he needs to improve his game.
For: Express – GIDEON BROOKS
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Talented players reach academies across the country, but FA research suggests that for every 200 boys signed by club before age 10, only one will advance to the first team.
Faced with that, the first steps of Marcus Rashford (the first phase of his career, if given tonight, marks exactly five years since his debut in the first team) can already be considered a remarkable and unreserved success.
With firm step on the field with 85 goals in 253 appearances for him United and 11 in 39 for England since his international debut in May 2016 and, more importantly, equally skilled, without scandals and with an MBE already in the bag for his laudable campaign outside of it.
However, given this large platform, the forward of the United and England now have to rise to the next level, a degree where you join the greats of the game, not just the good guys.
And despite everything he’s been through to get here, that’s where things get the most difficult and the odds are significantly greater than 200-1.
To the technician of United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was asked this week what to do Rashford to get to the next level and it was no surprise that he cited the example of Cristiano Ronaldo as the path the striker should follow.
“We’ve had the best possible example of that in worldfootball with Cristiano, the way he has taken care of himself the way he came into the club,” he said Solskjaer.
“We all notice the way he developed throughout his career and the way he took care of himself is important. I’m sure Marcus takes care of himself, but that’s the only way to be on top. You cannot be distracted ”.
Aside from a stress fracture in his back in 2019-20 that knocked him out of 13 games and a shoulder injury that has worried him this season, his record of missing just 18 games in five years supports the feeling that Rashford you are doing the right thing.
