If it wasn’t for Marcus Rashford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would probably not still be in his dream job.
Rashford goals have bookended Solskjaer’s time in charge at Old Trafford – getting the new regime up and running with the opener against Cardiff City in December 2018, before hitting the 300th goal of the Norwegian’s tenure to kickstart Manchester United’s revival in the crucial win over Atalanta on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old’s dramatic last-gasp penalty against Paris Saint-Germain in March 2019 effectively got Solskjaer the job on a permanent basis as well, before his sensational winner 19 months later, again in the French capital, went some way to silencing the growing number of voices who believed the rookie coach was not up to the task.
Now, Rashford is fighting fit, leaner and meaner than ever. Several sources at the club have told i that they have been amazed by the England forward’s work ethic having been given the task of bulking up to avoid further repeats of the shoulder injury that kept him out at the start of the season.
“He has worked really hard, now he is physically very robust,” Solskjaer said after the Atalanta game. “Now it his about getting football form back. And it is coming.”
In fact, that form is already there, with Rashford having impressed on his return off the bench at Leicester City on Saturday, scoring a brilliantly-taken goal, before his strike in the Champions League. Two in less than two games, after three in his previous 18 United appearances.
The problem is, should Rashford recover from the dead leg that saw him taken off against Atalanta in time to face Liverpool on Sunday, Solskjaer faces a selection headache of the grandest proportions, as his problems continue to mount.
United have been carved open far too easily in recent weeks. As a result, as he did last season to stifle Liverpool at Anfield, Solskjaer may go with a more reserved approach on Sunday, especially given the form United’s great rivals are in.
Paul Pogba was deployed in a wide forward role on Merseyside in January, but effectively sat deeper in a midfield three, with Anthony Martial also asked to perform more defensive duties, leaving Rashford on his own up front.
That central strike role is one man’s and one man’s only now with Solskjaer very unlikely to drop ageless megastar Cristiano Ronaldo, meaning he now has to pick between Pogba, Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho, Rashford, Martial and Jesse Lingard for the other forward positions.
Lingard and Martial would be unlikely starters, but Rashford’s return means a minimum of one from him, in-form Greenwood and Sancho, who United coveted for so long, will have to miss out.
Throw in Edinson Cavani alongside all that and Solskjaer has been left reaching for the aspirin.
It is one of the oldest cliches in the book – having plenty of options is a good selection headache to have – but this is quite something, for a manager who has no idea what his best line-up is, ahead of his side’s biggest game of the season, one that could ultimately decide whether he gets the chance to see the job out.
Rashford has saved Solskjaer’s skin before, and has previous of putting Liverpool to the sword. It just remains to be seen whether he can be squeezed into an attacking unit already full to bursting with talent.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3lZLt8S
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