Marcus Rashford came off the bench to show Ole Gunnar Solskjaer what his Manchester United team have been missing and Luke Shaw could benefit from Rashford’s return.
With us trailing Leicester 2-1 and the game looking to peter out, Rashford made a dart off the left touchline and across the Foxes’ defence which was picked out by Victor Lindelof.
United’s number 10 smashed the ball past Kasper Schmeichel and would have hoped his goal would galvanise his teammates and propel them on to gaining a vital three points.
But the very opposite happened and the classic cliché of being at your most vulnerable after scoring unfortunately came to fruition.
Rashford’s instant impact was one of very few positives to take away from the King Power Stadium.
But one man who is probably delighted to see Rashford back fit and firing again is Shaw.
Shaw struggled to establish partnership
In the time Rashford has been recovering from shoulder surgery, Shaw hasn’t had a regular left-winger playing in front of him.
In eight Premier League games, the England left-back has had Paul Pogba, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial all playing in front of him.
But he has struggled to establish the same connection and understanding with those three like he does with Rashford.
Shaw looks to give Rashford the ball as early as possible, so United’s number 10 can expose the full-back and either beat the opposing defender for pace on the outside or cut inside onto his right-foot.
But Rashford also knows that Shaw wants to bomb past him on the overlap and contribute to United’s attacking phases of play.
Rashford has the vision and weight of pass to play in Shaw which then presents opportunities to fire the ball across goal or cut the ball back to the likes of Bruno Fernandes or Pogba.
The Shaw and Rashford partnership could help ignite the rest of the team and heavily involve the likes of Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The defeat against Brendan Rodgers’ side was the first time this season that Shaw hasn’t registered a key pass or cross in a Premier League game (WhoScored).
Shaw darting past Rashford also gives him the time and space to cut inside and whip in those pacey crosses which Edinson Cavani benefitted from last season.
That’s again another area where Ronaldo could benefit by making those explosive movements in the box.
We’re not performing as a team currently, but if Shaw and Rashford can get their partnership back to its best as a duo, it could be the springboard to pull this Manchester United team out of this worrying funk.
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