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da bet7k： Writing in his Team of the Week column for BBC Sport, Garth Crooks has lambasted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for his use of Marcus Rashford.
What did he say?
The Manchester United forward has struggled to carry the burden of being one of the side’s trusted goal-scorers, going on a run of one goal in seven in Premier League games earlier this season.
After appearing to turn the corner in recent fixtures (the England international struck four times in the space of ten days), the 22-year-old produced a below-par display against Bournemouth on Saturday.
As per Sofascore, he managed just one shot on target, with United old boy Josh King scoring the match-winner for the Cherries. And now, Crooks has compared how Bournemouth have been able to rely on more than just one man to lead the line, whilst the Red Devils have seemingly increased the pressure on Rashford.
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He said: “Manager Eddie Howe does not have to rely on (Callum) Wilson to produce the goods all the time for the Cherries and can occasionally rely on King, as was the case against United. It would appear, however, that there seems an over-reliance developing by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Marcus Rashford. Solskjaer needs to be reminded that Rashford is only 22 and Manchester United one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“To ask such a young man to carry so much responsibility, often on his own, is bordering on carelessness. Fortunately, King doesn’t need to worry about such matters at Bournemouth.”
Burden
Make no mistake about it, the moment United gave the green-light for both Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez to make their Old Trafford exits, it was clear they trusted in their young forwards to fire them to success. Instead, Anthony Martial’s untimely injury back in August led to Rashford having to carry the burden all on his own, and he struggled to do so.
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His mini-revival appeared to hint he had overcome it, but his tame performance against the Cherries at the weekend proved that he hasn’t quite escaped his slump. Solskjaer desperately needs to add reinforcements in the January window, or else he risks his stars hitting a mental block in their efforts to lead the line.