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Jose Mourinho proven right over Man Utd’s Rashford despite Thierry Henry claims

Marcus Rashford added to his Premier League tally against Leicester City, but still received a pointed message from manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Manchester United forward opened the scoring in the 2-2 draw, although that goal only came after missing a gilt-edged chance.

Rashford spurned a clear-cut headed chance in the early exchanges and also missed a one-on-one with Kasper Schmeichel denying him.

Following the draw, Solskjaer said: “With the chances we create you expect us to score more goals.

“I am a bit disappointed we didn’t score on the big moments we had.

With his solitary strike, the 23-year-old brought up his 50th for the Red Devils, the third youngest player behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney to achieve the feat.

However, despite now being four years on from his dramatic Old Trafford debut, the debate over his best position continues.

Solskjaer has continually switched him between a central striker and a left-sided forward.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Former boss Jose Mourinho claimed last year that Rashford wasn’t a nine and could only play as a winger.

“As I always told, from the left. Not as a nine, from the left,” Mourinho said. “I knew it, I told the boys. I told him exactly the way he does things.”

Since Mourinho’s comments Solskjaer has played Rashford on the left 17 times from a possible 22 Premier League games, despite Thierry Henry having the polar opposite viewpoint.

“I always liked him. Sometimes you suffer from what you have,” the Frenchman said last year.

“That means, he’s quick. People want him to play on the left or the right because he’s quick.

“I think he can do a hell of a job as a number nine. I always have confidence in him in front of goal.

“But I like his tenacity. He’s lively, he runs at people. People are seeing him with a different eye now and he needs to keep doing this.”

Rashford himself has previously suggested he agrees with the Tottenham manager, with his personal preference being to play out wide.

“When you are on the left, you can create a lot more things on your own, giving that little bit more to the team,” Rashford said.

“Whereas when you are playing up front, sometimes you are isolated and need someone in midfield who can find passes for 90 minutes of a game, so you can disappear in games sometimes as a number nine.

“When I transitioned to a number nine when I was younger, that’s the bit that I struggled with as I was always someone who wanted to express myself on the ball. When I started playing number nine, I realised that you don’t see the ball as often as you do in other positions, but when you do see the ball, it’s an opportunity to score goals.”

source : www.mirror.co.uk

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