Rashford To Start Against Feyenoord, Confirms Mourinho
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that teenage sensation Marcus Rashford will start against Feyenoord in the Europa League.
Rashford is yet to start a game under Mourinho, but has been used as a substitute on several occasions, and the entire team’s performance has notably been more energetic with the youngster on the field.
The Portuguese boss said that Rashford’s primary position will be as a No. 9, but he may be used out wide as well.
“For me, the next big game is against Feyenoord and he is going to play. I trust him completely. I know his future will be absolutely brilliant,” Mourinho said, speaking to local newspapers in his country.
“He [Rashford] is mainly a No. 9 but, if you want to play him in different positions, we need to improve him. But his big personality is there.
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“Normally, people look to the football talent but the personality at this level is very important and he was showing that immediately. [Rashford can play as a] wide man or we play with both [him and Ibrahimovic up front], which we can do perfectly like we did against Hull City.
“I felt they [City] had fragility on the sides and the kid could give us in the second half what we didn’t get from Micki [Mkhitaryan] and Jesse [Lingard] in the first half.”
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Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Jesse Lingard put up woeful displays in the 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester City, and were both hooked at half time. Ander Herrera came on and made an instant impact, and received a lot of praise from the manager.
Asked whether Lingard or Mkhitaryan would play against Feyenoord, he said: “Performances are the only way that I can decide. So if you are asking me if they are going to play against Feyenoord, then no.
“And it is not to punish them, it is just to decide in relation to what I have. And what do I have? Their performances. So, of course, I am going to play other players.”
Asked whether he would have picked a different team to play the match against City in hindsight, he said: “You never know the way players are going to react, especially when you don’t know them so well and, after only a couple of months, it is too early to know them really well.
“Let’s speak for example about Mkhitaryan — how many big matches has he played? The kid Jesse — how many times has he played big matches? But Ander Herrera came on and he was phenomenal in his attitude.”
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