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Paul Merson believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should start Marcus Rashford on the bench for Manchester United’s clash with Arsenal, as the forward has proven to be more effective as an impact substitute.
Rashford has been causing a sensation both on and off the court in recent weeks and stole the headlines once again Wednesday night when he came off the bench to score an impressive hat-trick in the Red Devils’ 5-5 win. 0 over Leipzig in the Champions League.
The 22-year-old attacker also took center stage a week earlier with a brilliant last gasp in United’s 2-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain.
Rashford has grown accustomed to scoring late for United, with all but one of his goals this season in the final 20 minutes of matches, and Merson feels the England international is at his most ‘dangerous’ moment as he terrorizes the weary. Opposition defenders in this period. .
“Marcus Rashford is the perfect supersub and he should start on Manchester United’s bench this weekend,” the former Arsenal midfielder said in his Daily star column.
‘Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should use it more often because statistics show that this is where it can be most dangerous sometimes.
“When he starts, he doesn’t score many goals and often finds it difficult. But he came in this week against Leipzig and scored a hat-trick in 16 minutes! If you watch when he scores his goals this season, they tell you a story.
‘He scored as a substitute against Luton in the 88th minute in the EFL Cup. He scored in the second half against Brighton. He scored in the last minute against Newcastle. He scored three minutes from time against Paris Saint-Germain and all his goals against Leipzig came late in the game. His goals come against tired defenders. Maybe United should experiment with that.
“Arsenal is going to be a close match. If it’s 0-0 after 60 minutes and Rashford comes in just as the defenders are getting tired, he could have a field day. ‘
Merson added: ‘Don’t get me wrong. Marcus Rashford is too good to spend his entire career as a supersub. He is international with England.
But I think he needs a break and playing a few games off the bench could actually do him good in the long run.
‘The rest of the United bench is not changing a game for Solskjaer. But Rashford can. And there is no better feeling as a coach than having a gun like that.
“Rashford is a better player when the game opens up and there is room to break in. But United can’t open games early on because they aren’t good enough defensively.
‘You have to have players tire the defenders so that when Rashford faces, those defenders are on their knees. Anthony Martial can do that. So could Mason Greenwood.
“What Rashford has been doing off the court lately with the campaign to feed the hungry children is absolutely phenomenal.”
While Merson accepts that Solskjaer could be ‘sacrificed’ if Rashford is benched and United lose, he urged the Norwegian to ‘show a bit of a bottle’ and keep the forward back until the second half.
“Rashford is still a young player with a lot of pressure on his shoulders. A few games off the bench could do him something good, ‘Merson continued.
But does Solskjaer have the bottle to use it like this? If they lose to Arsenal and Rashford hasn’t started, they will kill him.
‘It is difficult for Solskjaer to do that. Double strong now that you just scored a hat-trick. But it could be the right thing to do.
“ If I’m a defender I’d rather Rashford start the game and fade than come back fresh legs at the end when I’m wrecked.
“There are some players who take 15 minutes to get into a game when they enter. Not Rashford. He comes and is on it right away.
Solskjaer knows how it is. He was the best at it. He knows. But it will take a bottle to ask Rashford to do it.
Good substitutes see space and burn you with their rhythm, and they certainly can if United uses it correctly. Solskjaer should show a bottle.
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