Rashford pays the price under Mourinho
Marcus Rashford has struggled for playing time under new Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, amassing just 20 minutes of action in the Community Shield final against Leicester.
|||Marcus Rashford will begin the Sam Allardyce era playing for England’s Under 21s after he was dropped from the senior squad.
The Manchester United striker was one of the few England players to emerge with credit from Euro 2016 after a scintillating breakthrough season at Old Trafford saw him earn a late call-up to Roy Hodgson’s squad.
However, the 18-year-old has struggled for playing time under new United boss Jose Mourinho, amassing just 20 minutes of action in the Community Shield final against Leicester.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial are all ahead of him in Mourinho’s pecking order.
That lack of first-team action has persuaded Allardyce to omit Rashford from his first squad, and he will instead report to Gareth Southgate’s team for their Euro 2017 qualifier against Norway.
However, Southgate has no worries about Rashford handling the step down after he was able to select the forward for the first time.
Rashford will now spearhead the attack in the Under 21s’ crucial qualifier in Colchester on Tuesday week, though he could be drafted back into the senior squad if injuries arise.
Southgate, who has rewarded Everton defender Mason Holgate with a first call-up after his promising start to the season, has no worries about the forward’s attitude and feels he will be a key figure in the final three games of the qualification campaign.
‘Last season his pathway was remarkable and we’re very conscious of plotting how we develop our young players’ said Southgate.
‘We spoke a lot with United when we put Marcus in the Under 20s in March, which both they and ourselves felt was the right thing at the time.
‘But if he’s less likely to start with the seniors — and Sam (Allardyce) is quite keen that people are playing regularly (for their clubs) — we think that it’s now a good opportunity in his development for him to be with the Under 21s.’
England top Group 9 and a win over Norway would mean they would need only three more points to make the finals next summer.
England Under-21 squad (v Norway, Sept 6): Gunn (Man City), Pickford (Sunderland), Wildsmith (Sheff Wed), Chambers (Arsenal), Chilwell (Leicester), Galloway (WBA, loan from Everton), Hause (Wolves), Holding (Arsenal), Holgate (Everton), Iorfa (Wolves), Targett (So’ton), Baker (Vitesse, loan from Chelsea), Chalobah (Chelsea), Hayden (Newcastle), Hughes (Derby), Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Swift (Reading), Ward-Prowse (So’ton), Gray (Leicester), Grealish (A Villa), Rashford (Man Utd), Redmond (So’ton), Solanke (Chelsea), Watmore (Sunderland). – Daily Mail