Should Marcus Rashford and Antony swap sides at Man United? – Man United News And Transfer News

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Much has been made in recent weeks about Erik ten Hag’s tactical decisions around the team but one thing that has escaped too much scrutiny in the mainstream media is the deployment of his wingers.

Players such as Marcus Rashford and Antony have come in for some stick from the likes of Ruud Gullit and Rio Ferdinand for not providing a proper service to Rasmus Hojlund, who is yet to get off the mark for United in the Premier League.

Before Hojlund, Cristiano Ronaldo seemed constantly frustrated by the lack of service provided to him.

As noted here yesterday, Rashford himself seems to perform better when not playing alongside a traditional CF. When a number 9 like Anthony Martial is deployed, there is more positional fluidity and Rashford seems to revel in that freedom.

Both Rashford and Antony have often been accused of being selfish players, more intent on cutting inside to take the shot themselves rather than putting in a cross for the striker to pounce on.

Could there be a very simple explanation as to why this is the case?

Rashford is a right footed player playing on the left wing. Antony is a left-footed player playing on the right wing. This plain fact means that their natural instinct will be to cut inside on their strong foot rather than reach the byeline and cross with their weaker foot.

The same could be said of Jadon Sancho, a right footer bought by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to play on the right wing but being deployed – until his exile – by Ten Hag mostly on the left.

Fans have often observed that Rashford does not seem as effective on the right as on the left, but to the naked eye, it would appear that he is far more likely to attempt a cross than to cut inside when deployed in that role. Perhaps some persistence playing him in that position would allow this aspect of his game to develop and as such, a better service would be provided to the central men.

This might come across as an old-fashioned approach to the game and the role of a winger is much more fluid these days than simply putting a good cross in. Much more emphasis nowadays is placed on the full backs to put in the crosses from the overlap. Liverpool have exploited this tactic perfectly with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson both in the top 10 PL crossers last season. Another full-back, Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier tops the list.

Nonetheless, if a winger is too one-footed, his game becomes too predictable and too easy to defend. The likes of Bukayo Saka at Arsenal and Jack Grealish at Manchester City also play the reverse wing to their stronger foot, but are arguably much stronger with their weaker foot than Rashford and Antony.

Looking at the Premier League’s crossing stats for both this season and last, Bruno Fernandes is United’s top crosser. In 2022/23 he was 19th in the PL rankings for number of crosses, this season he is fifth – possibly due to the proportion of games he has played in the right wing role.

Diogo Dalot is second for United this season and Christian Eriksen third. Rashford is fourth for United and only 77th in the PL overall for crosses delivered. Then comes Mason Mount before we finally find Antony in 108th position.

Last season, Bruno was again by far United’s most frequent crosser. Luke Shaw came second, but was only 38th in the league, then came Eriksen and Dalot, before Antony, in 125th place. Rashford was a shocking 148th.

Between them last season, Rashford and Antony totalled 56 crosses. Compare that to Trippier, who managed 393 on his own.

Luke Shaw is obviously a big miss for United in this area so far this season but it is still an issue. If switching Rashford and Antony’s sides seems too drastic, would it not be worth at least trying to have them alternate for sections of the game?

All stats from Premier League.com