‘Unbelievable’ Marcus Rashford can ‘play into Michael Carrick’s hands’ and that is why he must start against Atletico Madrid.
That is the view of former Manchester United attacker Ashley Young, who believes Rashford’s pace could be the difference between winning and losing in Madrid on Tuesday night.
Rashford is yet to get a goal or assist since coming back into the fold at United this season and started the weekend’s draw against Tottenham on the bench.
But he is the biggest pace threat United have and his knowledge of Spanish football, having been on loan at Barcelona last season, is another feather in his cap in Young’s view.
‘Someone like Marcus Rashford playing, knowing him so well and playing alongside him, what he brings to a team, he’s unbelievable,’ Young told Daily Mail Sport.
‘The things that he can do… it’s like, when you’re a footballer, the confidence, when you’re playing with confidence, everything just seems to come off.
Marcus Rashford (left) can be the key piece for Michael Carrick (right) in Madrid on Tuesday
Rashford scored for loan club Barcelona at Atletico Madrid’s stadium in April this year
‘Maybe that’s the thing, that he’s not full of confidence, but it will only take an assist or a goal. He knows the Atletico stadium. Last season, he scored there.
‘I think he can play into Michael’s hands if he’s playing with pace tonight, because of the way that Atletico play.
‘They love to flood players forward. If that’s the way, you play on the counter-attack, you need pace in the team, and someone like Marcus Rashford could definitely hurt an Atletico team tonight.’
Young will be alongside former United team-mate Wayne Rooney as a pundit for Prime Video tonight and the duo will be especially keen to see a greater level of effort from United after another lacklustre outing in the draw to Tottenham Hotspur.
Not least given this is a critical week for manager and players with a trip to face Atletico Madrid followed up by the gauntlet of a trip to Elland Road on Sunday to face bitter rivals, Leeds United.
‘You’ve got to have grit, you’ve got to have determination,’ Young added.
‘You’ve got to have people that want to go out there and literally leave blood and guts on the pitch.
‘There are players in that squad that will go and do that.
‘As players in the dressing room you’ll talk about the start of the season but you can’t change that. It’s behind you, it’s in the past. It’s about tonight and moving forward.’
On Carrick in particular, Young knows first hand that the calm demeanour he shows publicly in the media is not always the case behind the scenes.
Rashford came off the bench against Tottenham but his pace is vital, believes Ashley Young
‘Of course, he really has [that ruthless side],’ Young, speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Sport, continued.
‘Because he’s so calm, he’s so laid back, as a player when you played with him, as soon as Michael spoke it was like everyone stopped.
‘As soon as I spoke you’d listen to every word.
‘He’s got that experience and he knows the club. He knows everything as a player, he knows now as a manager. He knows the scrutiny that comes with it and he knew that as soon as he took the job.
‘But he’s got that [ruthless] way that if someone needs to be picked out and spoken to in a certain way, he’ll do that. He did that as a player and sometimes I felt the wrath of it!’
Atletico Madrid vs. Manchester United is live tonight exclusively on Prime with coverage starting from 6.30.
