Jose Mourinho would have wanted a better ending to 2017 for his Manchester United side.

They’ve recently lost to rivals Manchester City, they have dropped down to third place in the Premier League behind last season’s league champions Chelsea and now they’ve seen strikers Romelu Lukaku and Zlatan Ibrahimovic suffer from injuries.

Belgian hitman Lukaku was taken off on a stretcher against Southampton yesterday, during their 0-0 draw. While Jose has stated that Zlatan is carrying a knee injury and will be out for a month.

That means that the Red Devils will probably be missing last season’s top goalscorer and the club’s current leading marksman for the next few weeks.

That will mean more responsibility will fall onto the shoulders of young forwards Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.

Both talents will want to have a run in the team playing up-top. For much of this campaign the youngsters have had to settle for a place on the wing or on the bench.

Now they have a chance to shine as the central striker and one, if not both, will have to stand up and take the opportunity with both hands.

United’s recent loss of form can’t continue if they want to stay in the Top Four and sustain a challenge in the Champions League.

They haven’t won in their last four outings and have scored less than City and Liverpool so far this year.

Rashford could get the nod as he was the one that Mourinho turned to last season when Zlatan missed the end of that term due to his first significant injury. The young English international repaid the faith with mature performances that included assists as well as goals as United secured the Europa League title.

The twenty year old has scored just four league goals this term but he’s mainly found himself out on the left wing. In his three appearances through the middle Marcus has scored one in return.

Rashford offers a more disciplined performance and Jose likes that from his players.

But Anthony Martial has made a case of being the main striker too.

This season, the French forward has six goals and yet he’s only started ten times in the Premier League, he has only started once in the middle. He has also contributed with three assists for teammates.

His pace and his instinct in front of goal makes him potentially a world class centre-forward. The twenty-two year old seems to have his focus back and hungry to prove himself.

Both Man United stars need to watch the transformation of City duo Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane and try and replicate that at Old Trafford.

They’ve been waiting for this opportunity to prove themselves as strikers under Jose Mourinho and while it’s sad to see fellow pros out injured, they need to make sure that they aren’t missed and that Manchester United can survive with out them and return to winning ways.

Posted on December 31st, 2017 by scott
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