Marcus Rashford — King of My Channel (Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Radio Edit)
It’s 1999 and the United squad are celebrating their unprecedented achievement of the Treble. All the way in Ibiza, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rocking the dance floor and he hears that tune that grabs his attention. He asks the DJ in his Norwegian-Manc accent for the name of the tune. The DJ tells him that it’s Roy Malone’s remix of “Wamude Project — King of My Castle”. The striker just nods, smiles and back to the dance floor he goes celebrating that 93rd minute winner to claim the Champions League trophy.
Released in 1997 “King of My Castle” didn’t become a world wide hit till 1999, when it was remixed by Roy Malone and featured on the 1998 album Program Yourself. The song peaked at number one on the US, UK and Scottish charts, while making the top ten of the charts in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland.
Fast Forward to late 2018 and Marcus Rashford, United’s wonder-kid, has impressed sporadically since his explosive debut against FC Midtylland. The managerial carousel hadn’t help the young forward whose talent is unquestionable, but it’s the lack of consistency that raised multiple questions.
After Mourinho’s reign had ended, United opted for a more steadier approach. Hiring a caretaker manager till the end of the season, then decide. They opted for a familiar figure around the club, and no one would have predicted that it will be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian’s positive approach shifted the psychology inside United’s dressing room, and changed the toxic atmosphere that his predecessor was living in.
Solskjaer has shifted between the 4–2–3–1 and the 4–3–3, sticking primarily to the former. His most notable change however is the selection of Rashford as United’s striker instead of Romelu Lukaku who only started the FA Cup encounter against Reading.
Rashford now spear-heads the United attack rather than starting on the wing. His constant movement towards the channels introduces another option for United though. The roams towards the channels empties space centrally for any of Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba to attack. Meanwhile, those movements lessens the marking he faces as he moves further away from goal. Glimpse of these movements appeared in Solskjaer’s first game away to Cardiff. Rashford’s movement from the center to the left channel opened space for Lingard who went past Sol Bamba. The defender then clipping Lingard for Lingard to score United’s fourth from the penalty spot. Minutes after, Rashford ran behind Bamba and into the space between the defender and Gregory Cunningham. Victor Lindelof found Rashford with a lovely through ball but Rashford’s shot skimmed the far post. Against Huddersfield, Rashford combined with Juan Mata in the right channel for the ball to eventually fall for Pogba centrally to score United’s second.
Nothing however illuminated Rashford’s excellence in the channels more than his recent performance against Tottenham and Brighton. In an unorthodox 4–3–3 United traveled to Wembley, Rashford played on the right wing rather than centrally. Lingard played in the middle as his trips to midfield helped United negate Spurs’ diamond midfield. Rashford positioned himself between Ben Davies and Jan Vertonghen, keeping a distance from the latter to work around man-marking. Also, this positioning gave Rashford an edge in his 1 v 1 against Vertonghen as he now has the opportunity to accelerate towards the defender rather than both being at rest when the ball arrives. Rashford’s diagonal run from the right channel to the left channel speeding past Vertonghen was found by Martial earlier in the game, but Rashford’s shot didn’t cause Hugo Lloris any issues.
In the 2nd encounter versus Vertonghen, Rashford came out victorious. His positioning between Davies and Vertonghen gave him a head-start to bypass the Belgian and strike the ball into the net to score the only goal in the game. This Saturday, he further showcased his brilliancy by dropping into the left channel to be a passing option, then combining with Diogo Dalot. What followed highlighted Rashford’s dribbling ability. He sold Pascal Gross a dummy with his left, then adjusted the ball with his right to place it beautifully into top corner. Throughout the rest of the game, Rashford floated combining with other United players to create further chances.
Rashford’s movements towards the channels have offered United more dynamism and flexibility in their attacks, something they have missed after the Ferguson era has ended.
“Marcus Rashford is the king of my channel, Marcus Rashford is freeing my trapped soul” Solskjaer was seen singing after the Brighton game to the tune of 1999 hit.
