Marcus Rashford: A unique striker

Its February and that means its been three years since Marcus Rashford burst onto the scene at Manchester United. Since then, Rashford has made more than 150 appearances for United, gone to Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup with England and has won the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Europa League with United.

Still, the current moment is Rashfords first real spell as Uniteds main man in attack. Its safe to say hes relishing it and hes undoubtedly delivering. This tactical analysis will look at Rashfords role at United, his potential and the statistics behind his huge improvement.

Marcus Rashfords role at Manchester United

Rashford was given his chance up front and kept that position during the last few months under Louis van Gaal. Under Jose Mourinho, however, Rashford was shoved out wide whenever Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Romelu Lukaku were fit. For Mourinho, Rashford just wasnt the striker the Portuguese wanted in his team.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer instantly made Rashford his main man up front with Jesse Lingard to the right and Anthony Martial to the right. That trio has got United fans excited for the future, and brought sublime results for Solskjaers men.

Brilliant movement

The one thing that stands out with Rashford when he plays up front is his movement. Hes obviously got pace in abundance, but his general movement is also very good. As well see below, Rashford has improved his understanding of how to move and, crucially, when.

One area we often see Rashford drift into is the left-sided half-space. Given his preference to finish with his right foot from this angle it comes as no surprise that he likes moving into this position. The image below shows the seconds before Rashfords stunning strike against Brighton. He received the ball in this inside channel, turned inside the defender onto his right foot and curled the ball into the far corner.

Rashfords movement into this space creates a problem for the opponent as the centre of Uniteds attack is emptied. With Ibrahimovic or Lukaku up front they would stand in the central area and wait for the ball.

Rashfords movement away from the centre creates confusion among the defenders as well as an opportunity for other players to run into the space hes vacated. The below image shows Rashford attracting the attention of four Brighton players, who are all backing off him, while Herrera and Lingard make runs into the centre.