England are through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a win against Mexico, leaving Marcus Rashford a new challenge in the process.
It was a game with two penalties, a red card, and five goals, but from Man Utd’s perspective, it was missing any club representation.
Anthony Gordon started ahead of Marcus Rashford, while Thomas Tuchel continued to pretend that Kobbie Mainoo doesn’t exist.
The former, in particular, has a new challenge to overcome in the wake of England’s win.
What’s YOUR message to Marcus Rashford after Barcelona’s deal for Anthony Gordon?
Should Man Utd use this reality check to try and bring Rashford back?
Marcus Rashford must shed ‘moments’ player tag
Gordon vs Rashford is a debate that has dominated the discussions around England’s selection because of the larger narrative.
Not only do they compete for the LW spot in the national side, but Gordon also effectively took Rashford’s place at Barcelona for nearly thrice the fee.
Not many could make sense of that move from the Catalans, but that decision looks increasingly justified in this World Cup.
There is a school of thought that Rashford is a much better player than Gordon, but it looks like that thought is simply driven by Rashford having better moments.
Rashford is an explosive player capable of executing the audacious, but over the course of 90 minutes, he just doesn’t give enough to the team.
It’s why Barcelona thought beyond his raw numbers before making a move, and then Gordon showed against Mexico why they preferred him over Rashford.
He worked hard on and off the ball, and his moments were in addition to what he was already contributing to the team.
That is in stark contrast to Rashford, who is either scoring/assisting, or looking like a “+1” in the team.
So good was Gordon, in fact, that Tuchel didn’t even bring Rashford on, leaving him to face himself in the mirror as to why that happened.
Rashford should use Man Utd as his redemption arc
Now that the plans to reintegrate Marcus Rashford are underway, he must introspect and understand why things keep going wrong for him despite his scoring numbers.
Is this a little harsh on Marcus Rashford? Do you feel the same way?
This Mexico vs England game encapsulated the difference between a team player (Gordon) and a moments player (Rashford).
With Michael Carrick as Man Utd manager, and the team on the up, the stage couldn’t be set better for him to use this season as his redemption arc.
He has been shown the mirror repeatedly this summer, and he should understand now that this is as much down to him as it was the fault of Man Utd.
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