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There’s an excitement at Aston Villa, and for more reasons than the fact they are on the brink of a first Champions League quarter-final in 42 years.
It is about one of the players suddenly central to that. Marcus Rashford has already excelled for the club in his brief period since signing, driving past defenders again, and that’s without even being fully fit.
Villa’s staff internally expect him to arrive at 100 per cent this week, which would be quite the timing: just before Thomas Tuchel picks his first England squad. There is now a persuasive argument that Rashford should be back in.
Tuchel may not even need much convincing. He has long been an admirer of Rashford, and wanted to bring him to Paris Saint-Germain. The German even went so far as envisaging a specific role for him in attack, which could now be reimagined for England.
Tuchel has been keen to tell everyone that it’s now a clean slate with the national team, but his own knowledge of Rashford will help. One of the issues that the 27-year-old has had over the last two years – as Gareth Southgate was only too keen to point out – was the extent of the competition in the forward positions.
Now, that argument just doesn’t have the same merit.
For one, in the time that Rashford has played for Villa, no one has been as productive. The forward has created more chances than any other Premier League player, at 13, in the time since making his debut. That comes from a revitalised ability to run at players, to suddenly open a game in the way he made his name.
It goes a bit further, too. It is not just that many England stars aren’t matching Rashford’s form – a fair few are some way off it. Phil Foden has endured an erratic season at Manchester City, where Jack Grealish is now some way off the creative force that dazzled the country at Euro 2020. Further down the table, Jarrod Bowen’s scoring has subsided, with Eberechi Eze not quite as productive as he was with Michael Olise beside him.
Even some of the younger stars who represent the future, like Cole Palmer, aren’t on the level they were even a few months ago; both Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke are injured; and Dominic Solanke is only just returning to fitness. And Rashford’s form should certainly matter more than Ivan Toney’s goalscoring in the Saudi Pro League.
His return to the England fold makes more and more sense, and his revival has coincided precisely with his move from Old Trafford – it was a necessary refresh. He isn’t the only player that can be said of, and it is why some at Manchester United cautioned that they shouldn’t send a star to a rival club above them in the table. It looks a lot better for them if the resurgence comes in a foreign league.
Instead, the fact that Rashford’s form has come the Premier League plays to his advantage, making him look all the better as he has gone straight back to impressing on the elite stage.
It helps that he has immediately synched with both Unai Emery and the Aston Villa squad. It’s been easy to settle in and that’s credit to Villa themselves. Although the relay attack of Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran had propelled them to these heights, there was always a slight danger of going stale and opposition sides figuring them out. The recruitment team have instead revitalised that area of the team, by essentially trading Duran for Rashford and Marco Asensio.
It can only help England that Rashford is working with Harry Kane’s understudy, in Watkins, as well as with another promising talent in Morgan Rogers.
Tuchel has been watching all of this. He is willing to think about everything anew and that’s a reason for excitement. One of his early decisions might well involve going back to one of Southgate’s first stars.
Source: independent.co.uk
