Marcus Rashford Must Ensure He Does Not Follow the Path of Adnan Januzaj in 2017

Marcus Rashford’s story is so remarkable it has been immortalised in a video game. EA Sports used the tale of a teenage striker bursting on to the scene at Manchester United, taking football by storm, to promote FIFA 17. They called him Alex Hunter, but everyone knew who it really was. 

Indeed, when the final chime of 2016 rings on New Year’s Eve, Rashford will toast what has been a quite astonishing year. Not even the Old Trafford hardcore had heard of the teenage striker this time last year, with Rashford still turning out for Manchester United’s youth teams. Since then, he has scored a double on his debut, forced his way into the first team, scored in a Manchester derby and appeared at a European Championship for England. What did you do this year?

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And yet Rashford already finds himself at a crucial juncture of his career. He achieved all those aforementioned things within six months of 2016. The second half of the year has been much more challenging for the 19-year-old. In fact, there is a sense that it could make or break him.

United manager Jose Mourinho, it was reported by Neil Ashton of The Sun, was unhappy with the striker’s performance as a substitute in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs right-back Kyle Walker nutmegged Rashford twice during the game, and the striker was seen being taken to the touchline for a word with the United manager. That, and in the dressing room afterwards, is where Mourinho reportedly told him to shape up.

That might seem rather harsh on a still-fledgling player who had provided some of the best moments of any Man Utd player over the past year or so, but Mourinho would claim he is only being so hard because of Rashford’s potential. He could become one of the best, so tough love might well be the best policy to ensure the teenager delivers on that promise.

Rashford must learn from the lesson of Adnan Januzaj. He, too, provided a highlight in what was a dreadfully dull season for Manchester United, bursting into the first team under David Moyes. He, too, was tipped as the next best thing at Old Trafford only to struggle in building on his breakthrough season, ultimately falling by the wayside. Now the Belgian finds himself on loan at Sunderland, out of sight, out of mind. He promised so much more.

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This season was always likely to be more difficult for Rashford, particularly with Mourinho coming in as manager. The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss has a reputation for shunning youth, but in truth, it’s more the case that he favours well-rounded players, and it just so happens young players tend not to be that well rounded. Rashford, case in point.

That is why Mourinho was apparently furious with the striker on Sunday, not because he offered little in the way of goalscoring threat, not because he lacked the willingness to take on opposition defenders, but because he neglected his defensive responsibilities. This is the area of Rashford’s game Mourinho will seek to improve. 

But with that in mind, Rashford must also learn the lesson of Wayne Rooney. Sure, Rooney is England’s top goalscorer in history, and will likely go down as Man Utd’s highest-ever goalscorer as well before too long, but excessive coaching and tactical thinking robbed him of his primal essence. He might have become the perfect manager’s player, carrying out instructions to the letter, but Rooney lost what once made him so exhilarating.

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There is a hint of early-days Rooney to Rashford in the way he shows no fear, drives at opponents, forces them into decisions they don’t want to make. He is something different in a similar way to how Rooney was when he broke through as an irrepressible teenage terror at Everton. Talent like Rashford’s is rare, so Mourinho must do his best to harness it.

On the periphery of things this season, Rashford must recognise how even the best players don’t command first-team places upon breaking through. Not even Lionel Messi could count on a starting place as a teenager at Barcelona, with Ronaldinho ahead of him in the pecking order for a couple of seasons. In fact, Messi provides something of a precedent to Rashford in the way he used those ahead of him, particularly Ronaldinho, as mentors rather than rivals.

In Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the young striker has a mentor of the highest calibre, and it would appear the former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain man has taken Rashford under his wing since making the move to Old Trafford in the summer.

The Swedish striker told Man Utd’s website:

"

I try to help in every way I can with my experience, and the goals will come. Goals are extra, a bonus let's say. If I score, then I help the team, but I think I can help in many ways, and this is the experience thing. Marcus is a young player; his career has just begun, and I am towards the end of my career.

I try to help in many ways without the ball, with the ball, with movements, by communicating, by sacrificing. It is part of the game, and as a player, I want to be as complete as possible, so this is one of the things I have been trying to do.

"

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Rashford is in the perfect place to develop. He stands no better chance of fulfilling his potential than he does at Manchester United. But just like with every young player, he must adapt and grow and learn to take the rough with the smooth. The rough proves too much for some, like Januzaj. The best, however, the ones destined for the top, see opportunity in the rough. Opportunity to develop.

At just 19 years old, Rashford remains one of the brightest young talents in the European game right now. A few substandard performances this season do little to taint what has been the best calendar year enjoyed by any young England prospect in a generation. He just needs to survive Mourinho's hairdryer treatment.