Which United player deserves more credit?

Sunday 12 July 2020 08:00

Bruno Fernandes feels his Manchester United colleague Marcus Rashford deserves more recognition for his team play since the Premier League's restart.

Rashford scored a penalty in last weekend's 5-2 win over Bournemouth to take his tally to 20 in all competitions for the season. The Mancunian was also unlucky on a couple of occasions not to net at Aston Villa, having a strike disallowed because Paul Pogba was flagged offside, and forcing a smart save out of Pepe Reina on another occasion.

Yet the England international, who recovered from a back problem during lockdown, should have few concerns at the moment, according to Bruno, as he is a key part of the Reds' devastating attacking armoury.

Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford enjoy working together at the Aon Training Complex.

"Like you saw last night [Thursday], Mason [Greenwood] scored a beautiful goal again and Anthony [Martial] and Marcus did very well," Fernandes told us, ahead of Monday's game against Southampton at Old Trafford.

"I think everyone is talking about Marcus not scoring a lot of goals but he is doing an amazing job.

“The game he is playing now, maybe he is not achieving his goals and everything but, with everything we are doing now, he will achieve more goals and more assists. In the games, in the complete football, because football is not just about goals and assists, it is about the team and Marcus is playing very well for the team.

"Anthony is playing very well and scoring goals, which is what you want as a striker, and Mason is a young kid who is scoring every time in different ways, so you always need to expect something new from him," added our Player of the Month.

“We have a lot of quality on the bench - Odion [Ighalo] scored in the cup against Norwich and we also have players like Dan James, Jesse [Lingard], Juan [Mata], Chongy [Tahith Chong].

“So we know when we’re tired and we need some freshness, we have a lot of players for the end of the season. It's easy to play with these kind of players.

“I hope Marcus can find more goals because he deserves it for the work he is doing for the team, and nobody sees it because everyone sees the goals and who scores and assists. The work he is doing for the team is amazing.

"Marcus was injured for a long time so it’s difficult to find that confidence again, to do things like shoot from far out. But he is doing an amazing job for the group and I think he deserves credit for this."

Video
Study Marcus Rashford's run off the ball on the break against Brighton.

One example of Rashford's unheralded work came with his run off the ball during the break for the Premier League Goal of the Month for June, at Brighton & Hove Albion.

"The play we did, the way we came to score, means it's one of the best goals from a team [perspective] that I've scored," the Portugal playmaker added.

"That's because of all the teamwork. We won the ball with the header from H [Harry Maguire], Nemanja [Matic] takes the ball and Mason did an amazing run but, at that moment, Rashy did a perfect run. He was one of the far [off] guys but comes so fast to the goal that defenders know if they give him space, he will score. 

“So maybe he [the defender] closes him down being closer to the ball and, when the cross comes over, and it was a great ball by Mason, after that I just need to score the goal."

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