Stats study: Just how good has Marcus Rashford been under Solskjaer?
Only two players have scored in six league matches since December 22nd. The significance of that date? Well, it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first match in charge at Manchester United, making a winning start to this current 10-match unbeaten run under the Norwegian.
Those two players are Lionel Messi, who incidentally has now scored in each of his last eight league appearances, and one Marcus Rashford following the 21-year-old’s ninth Premier League strike of the season at the weekend.
It was fitting that the striker would score the first goal of the Solskjaer regime, doing so within three minutes with a stunning free-kick at the Cardiff City Stadium, given that neither he nor the team have looked back since. His goals since Jose Mourinho’s departure have been of great quality, and the importance of the last three in particular can’t be overstated.
With match winners in meetings with Tottenham, Brighton and most recently Leicester, Rashford’s goals in 2019 alone have directly earned United six points and a previously far-fetched shot at a Champions League finish in turn. An injury time winner at Bournemouth earlier in the season means that while the youngster is yet to crack double figures in the Premier League, he’s been directly responsible for adding eight points to the club’s total of 48 (16.7 per cent).
It’s well documented that his upturn in form under the new manager has been an obvious consequence of a move to the centre-forward position. The England international has relished the responsibility of leading the line, but just how well do his performances under Solskjaer stack up against the very best strikers on the continent, both in that timeframe and over the season as a whole?
Firstly, when just considering the period of Rashford’s purple patch, just three players in Europe’s top five leagues have fired off more shots per 90 minutes in that time. Rashford’s lofty figure of 4.95 is beaten only by Fabio Quagliarella (5.05), Lionel Messi (5.48) and Cristiano Ronaldo (6.63). When just looking at attempts from open play the same three players outscore Rashford (3.48), along with Harry Kane (3.5) and Kylian Mbappe (3.68).
It’s clear then, that when it has come to picking up shooting positions, the Manchester United academy graduate is performing alongside the world’s elite as things stand. Meanwhile, when it comes to his ability to beat a man, only two central strikers in Europe - Rodrigo Moreno and Alexandre Lacazette - have completed more dribbles than Rashford (13) since Solskjaer’s first game at the United helm.
However, while his finishing and dribbling are more renowned qualities of the youngster, it’s Rashford’s hold up play that has perhaps been most pleasantly surprising. In fact, a pass accuracy of 84.27 per cent is the third best of 99 players to have started at least five matches up front since December 22nd, behind Angers’ Cheick Timite and Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min.
Where the United striker’s form falls short against the very best strikers around over the course of the season is his conversion rate. His aforementioned shots per 90 minutes of 4.95 would be enough to rank fifth over the season as a whole in Europe’s top five leagues after all, leaving a respectable if unspectacular conversion of 16.2 per cent.
Surprisingly that’s actually very marginally down on his overall average for the entire league season (16.4 per cent). However, the fact that Rashford’s conversion rate was actually better under Mourinho this season than it has been under Solskjaer proves just how infrequently he was arriving in goalscoring positions, or perhaps more pertinently, how frequently he has been since the latter’s appointment.
Nevertheless, both conversion rates - over the last eight games and the season as a whole - are only enough to rank 48th of the 59 players to have scored as many goals as Rashford this season (nine).
He’s still not the finished article, that’s for sure, but that unpredictability is also part of his charm at such a young age. His willingness to try things, even if he perhaps shouldn’t, as a consequence of the freedom he has been given of late is what makes Rashford so fun to watch.
In truth he may never be the greatest finisher, but if he continues to get into shooting positions or chance his arm when the odds are against so regularly that may not matter too much. There’s former Manchester United great that would fall into that category after all, and one whose name I needn’t mention at the risk of being lambasted for such comparisons.
Rashford’s support cast undoubtedly have a big role to play in ensuring his confidence continues to rise, having done just that under Solskjaer to now, but there seems little doubt that this is just the beginning of the 21-year-old’s anticipated tenure as Manchester United’s main man.
