If there is one player who has perhaps kept Louis Van Gaal in his job till now is the young striker Marcus Rashford. However, the United manager showed no sign of mercy in taking off the player at half time against Tottenham.
A manager indeed has the right to pick his non-performers and take them off at any given time but Rashford’s exclusion at White Hart Lane was a surprising one. Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata were virtually non-existent in the first half vs. Spurs, however, they stayed put and the 18-year old striker was sacrificed.
Another reason why Van Gaal’s decision made no sense at all was the timing of it. It was certainly not a co-incidence that Rashford’s half time substitution came 24 hours before Wayne Rooney’s scheduled return to action.
Manchester United skipper played 60 minutes against Aston Villa U-21 side and is tipped to start against West Ham tomorrow. Taking off Rashford would go as one of his bad nights for the club and Van Gaal can now easily slot Rooney back in to his starting XI.
I for one would not be surprised to see Rashford warm the United bench and Rooney play all the games from now until the end of this season. It would be nothing but injustice to that one player whose goals against Midtjylland and Arsenal have somehow seen Van Gaal keep his job at Old Trafford.
Jose Mourinho is widely tipped to take over at Man United next season and we are yet to know if Rashford will stay at the club or will be sent out on loan. However, the youngster will do well to regain his confidence from the recent humiliation suffered after being taken off at half time by Van Gaal.
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