Michael Carrick\u2019s latest comments on Marcus Rashford leave little doubt about where the player stands as Manchester United move through pre-season. The United boss said Rashford has been \u201cgreat\u201d since returning, and that assessment suggests the forward is well placed to play an important part next season.<\/p>\n
Rashford trained during the first half of the week before the friendly against Leeds United at Dublin\u2019s Croke Park on Wednesday. After only two sessions, his fitness was not at the level required for selection, so Carrick left him out of the squad. Kobbie Mainoo and Lisandro Mart\u00ednez were also omitted, with both having returned late because of their World Cup involvement.<\/p>\n
The next opportunity for Rashford to feature should come against AC Milan in Poland on Saturday, when United have a somewhat awkward reunion with former manager Ruben Amorim. Carrick, though, made clear he sees value in having Rashford available again. Speaking to ITV after the 1-1 draw with Leeds, he said Rashford has \u201ccome back great.\u201d<\/p>\n
That stance matters because Rashford had previously been pushed out of contention by Amorim, with his work in training said to be the issue. Carrick offered a direct defence of the player\u2019s attitude and presence in the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s our player. He\u2019s come back great, like any other player. I\u2019ve known him a long time, he gives us something a bit different,\u201d Carrick enthused.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been in great spirits since he\u2019s been back. He\u2019s been back [for] two or three days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments may also ease some of the scrutiny that returned after tabloid pictures showed Rashford drinking beer and champagne while on holiday before reporting back.<\/p>\n
United have not truly replaced him. Last season, his usual left-wing role was shared by Matheus Cunha and Patrick Dorgu. Both offered alternatives, but neither is a more natural fit than Rashford. United had been linked with a left winger this summer, but only if he left again. If he stays, it strengthens the squad and may allow attention to shift elsewhere, especially central midfield, left back and striker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carrick\u2019s backing of Rashford suggests the forward could play a major role in United\u2019s next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1330,702,179],"tags":[178,180,182],"class_list":["post-18459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ac-milan","category-leeds-united","category-manchester-united","tag-friendly","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}