Making his first team debut under Louis van Gaal in 2016, Marcus Rashford has been ever present in Manchester United’s matchday squads since. Debuting in the Europa league with a brace helping United to a 5-1 victory, Rashford showed the world what a talent he is. Getting his first England cap less than four months after making his first team debut, he scored on his international debut against Australia. A rise to stardom such as Rashford’s has rarely been seen in recent times but it begs the question, is he being over played by club and country and if so, will his career continue down the same path of fellow countryman Michael Owen?
Gametime
Despite not debuting until February, Marcus Rashford played 18 times in his first season, scoring eight times. His blistering pace playing predominantly as a centre forward saw him break into the England set up for Euro 2016 and make two sub appearances.
The following season, Rashford made 53 appearances in all competitions, as well as nine national team run outs. A successful season all in all, notching a total of 12 goals for club and country. The 2017/18 season saw another relentless schedule, with 52 club games and 16 national team run outs. 2018/19 saw Rashford pull on a United shirt 47 times and seven times for the national side.
The following season saw him compete for United 44 times and during the 2020/2021 season, Rashford featured 57 times for Man United and is currently in the England squad for the Euro 2020 tournament. Having featured in the opening game of Euro 2020 against Croatia and come on as a second half substitute against Scotland in the second group game as well as a substitute appearance against Czech Republic, the 23 year old has played 76 times in a calendar year. That’s an average of a game every 4.8 days. There is no way that he can get the adequate rest and recovery between games and therefore his body isn’t going to be performing its best.
We know it’s been a congested season with the European Championship coming very soon after the end of the Premier League season. With Manchester United going deep in all three cup competitions they entered, they also had more games than the average team. If we compare that to a player that plays in a similar position for a team that didn’t have any European competition, Richarlison of Everton, Rashford has played a lot more football. For club alone, Richarlison has played just 40 times, compared to Rashford’s 57. Likewise, Dwight McNeil has only played a total of 40 times, 17 less than Rashford. These stats alone highlight that Rashford is being overplayed.
Injuries
Despite playing 271 games for Manchester United and 43 games for England since 2016, the MBE recipient has suffered with a number of injuries. Most notable of these was the injury that kept him out for 141 days in January 2020. He suffered a double stress fracture in his back, keeping him out of 13 Man United games. There was some luck for Rashford, as he was able to recover during the suspension of the season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. If this wasn’t the case there is no doubt that Manchester United would have had to deal without their left forward for much longer.
He returned and suffered another injury in November, a shoulder injury. He completed just one full game in the month after the injury. It isn’t a hidden secret that Rashford has not been fully fit this season for long periods. He was clearly playing with an injury and wasn’t performing to his best. It’s also no hidden secret that Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer overplays his squad. There is little to no rotation and the same players are overplayed, leading to a burn out at the end of the 2020/2021 season.
In an interview with The Athletic this week, Rashford stated that he’s ‘not 100% sure’ whether he will have an operation or not to fix is on-going issues. He also addressed his drop in form stating, ‘I am not performing at my best. It has been going on since early on in the season.’
Owen, Injuries and Early Retirement
There’s a comparison to be made with Michael Owen when discussing Marcus Rashford. Both players broke into their respective first teams early on in their careers. Owen in particular debuting for Liverpool at 18 and consistently for seven seasons playing over 30 games. Naturally he’s going to get selected by England with his lucrative goal scoring record, recording 18 in the league in both of his first two seasons as Liverpool’s number one striker.
Owen made his international debut in 1998 under Glenn Hoddle. In total, during his time at Liverpool, Owen made 297 appearances for club and 66 appearances for England. A total of 363 appearances before the age of 26. He won the Ballon d’or at age 21, being the first English player since Kevin Keegan in 1979 to receive the honour.
All of these statistics suggest that he’d go on to have one of the most devastating striking careers in football history. His career was massively hampered by injuries, however. There’s no denying that his game was based largely on pace and managing to nip in between defenders in order to get in on goal. Owen suffered his first major setback in 1999, injuring his hamstring, keeping him out for three months. He admitted after he retired that he never was the same after this injury, despite going on to score a number of goals after it.
The concerning statistic is that Owen got this injury at 22. Rashford suffered his back injury at 22 also. Both men came back from these injuries and didn’t look the same but we can only hope that Rashford’s career isn’t too hampered by injury and being over played.
After a single season in Spain at Real Madrid, Owen signed for Newcastle but never truly re-found the form he had in Liverpool red. Suffering a metatarsal injury in his debut season limited him to just 11 appearances. During the 2006 world cup with England, Owen suffered ACL ligament tear which ruled him out for nine months. He managed just three appearances in the final three games of the season. He suffered a muscular problem in November 2007, ruling him out of seven games. After a fairly injury free season during the 2008/2009 campaign, only missing eight games as a result of injuries, he got a shock move to Manchester United.
Although he was fit for the majority of his first season, he only scored three league goals, including ‘that’ goal against Manchester City. The new number seven at United missed the final 10 games of the season due to a thigh problem. An injury hit second season saw him appear just 11 times for the Red Devils, notching two goals. His final season at Old Trafford saw him appear just once in the league. This was down to a mixture of both poor form, as well as missing 26 games due to injury. A transfer to Stoke saw him appear just eight more times before retiring at 34. After his ballon d’or win in 2001, he managed over 30 games only seven times. Simply put, he never lived up to his potential and this was due to injuries and being overplayed as a youngster.
Rashford and Owen - How Different are they?
There are a number of similarities that can be seen between Marcus Rashford and Michael Owen. Both broke onto the scene early as youngsters. Both have also suffered bad injuries early in their careers. In the season after both men broke into the squad they played 36 and 32 league games respectively. The comparisons between the two with regards to number of games played during their first few seasons is scary, with an average of around 45 games played, with the exception of the 1999/2000 season as a result of Owen’s injury.
It’s no hidden secret that Owen never truly lived up to his full potential and this was ultimately down to his injury record. England and Manchester United fans can’t afford for Rashford to go down the same path and not reach his full potential. If he continues to play at the rate that he is, there’s a high chance that this occurs.
This season alone, Marcus Rashford played 120 mins in the Europa League final on May 26th, then ran out 74 minutes for England under two weeks later. Should England go into the latter stages of the Euros, he’ll have little time before pre-season starts (United are scheduled to play Derby County on 18th July) and the next season commencing with Manchester United opening their season on 14th August. Next season, Solskjaer must rotate his squad in order to prevent injuries, burnout and allow players to get adequate recovery. If this doesn’t happen, he runs the risk of running players like Rashford and Mason Greenwood (another young English talent who has played 102 games in two seasons and isn’t even 20 yet). United spent close to £40 million on wingers last season but they have been underused. Next season is an opportunity to give players a rest and give the younger talent a chance.
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