Jose Mourinho tells Marcus Rashford he is 'opposite' of Jesse Lingard after missing 'unbelievable chances'
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford. Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Jose Mourinho has accused Marcus Rashford of missing “unbelievable chances” during the FA Cup win over Derby County and said he needed to bring Romelu Lukaku on as he felt the Englishman was “not going to score”.
Rashford nodded his header onto the post during the first half before directing a second chance straight at Derby goalkeeper Scott Carson. He also blazed a shot well over the crossbar before being jettisoned back to the left wing for the second 45 minutes as Lukaku entered the fray.
The 20-year-old was eventually replaced by Marouane Fellaini in the 80th minute with Jesse Lingard upstaging him with yet another screamer before Lukaku wrapped up the points to see United safely through into the fourth round.
Rashford has now only scored twice in his last 20 games and Mourinho has said he should follow the lead of Lingard, who, with his current form, is the “opposite” of the striker.
“Amazing goal by him,” Mourinho said of Lingard. “He is in clear evolution, I think he's comfortable in the positions he plays, he's improving with the progressive style of play of the team.
“The team is playing progressively in a different way which makes him feel even more like fish in the water, he is in these moments where things go well for him, he is the opposite of Marcus.
“Marcus, in training he scores unbelievable goals, he comes into matches and misses unbelievable chances, and hits the post, and the goalkeeper saves, so the players have these moments. I'm not worried with Marcus because a good moment will arrive and Jesse, if the negative moment arrives, I don't think he will lose the stability he is showing.
“He is mature, he understands the game better, we speak about the areas I want him to play according to the different positions he can play, so clearly he is becoming a player.
“My feeling was that Rashford is not going to score a goal and because of that I am not going to lose time and I am going to play Romelu and I am going to sacrifice a player and Mkhi [Henrikh Mkhitaryan] was the one I sacrificed.
“Lukaku He is another example of what a Manchester United player has to be. A great professional, amazing desire to play.”
