Marcus Rashford took just too long with his one big chance against Arsenal.
By the time he had controlled Luke Shaw's cross and turned back behind Cedric Soares, goalkeeper Bernd Leno had closed his route to goal. Rashford turned, played it backwards, and the danger was gone.
That first-half moment and a later shot blasted into the side-netting were the sum total of Rashford's threatening moments in Saturday's goalless Premier League draw at the Emirates Stadium, the third game in United's previous four that they have failed to win.
Like the 0-0 draw at Liverpool two weeks ago, there was a feeling United should have done much more to exploit their opponents' vulnerable state, with Mikel Arteta unable to call upon Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, his three most likely match-winners.
Like that stalemate at Anfield, Rashford failed to score, assist a goal or create a chance. Indeed, his assist for Paul Pogba's winning volley at Burnley is the only time Rashford has been directly involved in a goal in his past six league games. It's the longest time he has gone without a top-flight goal this season. The England forward has managed just one shot in target in his past five league games, so this is not just a case of an unfortunate dry spell against heroic goalkeeping.
Of course, Rashford scored one and set up another in the 3-2 FA Cup win over Jurgen Klopp's side, but that was a short reprieve from his recent rut. In league football lately, he has been reflective of Red Devils performances: sluggish, uninspired, inadequate.
Rashford is not alone in having lost his spark. A generally tepid encounter at the Emirates, reminiscent of past battles between these teams in name only, was another in which Bruno Fernandes could not influence the attack, where Edinson Cavani had three touches in the Arsenal penalty area and Luke Shaw, with three chances created, was the visitors' most enterprising attacking outlet.
While he attempted eight dribbles, the most he has tried in a league game since the win over Aston Villa on January 1, two of them were rather desperate runs through the middle of an Arsenal defensive pair, with little apparent forethought. Perhaps he thought too much when it came to distribution: for the second time in three league outings, he played one pass into the opposition penalty area. He has not found a team-mate with a cross since the 3-2 win at Southampton on November 29.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Rashford with Mason Greenwood 10 minutes from time, and he seemed neither put out nor relieved to be given a break. He was simply... there, just on the other side of the touchline.
The United manager might be pleased with a second successive away game against a big-six side in which they have neither lost nor conceded a goal, helping them to a club-record 18-match unbeaten run on their travels. As with the Liverpool trip, they also had a clear chance to win, Cavani's late, twisting volley just missing the bottom-right corner of Bernd Leno's net.
Yet they have taken only one point from games against bottom-club Sheffield United and eighth-place Arsenal in a week in which Manchester City have opened up a three-point gap at the top of the table, with a game in hand. They've also failed to score a goal in five league games in a row against that big-six contingent.
Their title aspirations are beginning to look like Rashford's recent use of a football: worryingly misplaced.
Expanded competitions threaten well-being of ‘pushed to limit’ players – report
The expanded Champions League and Club World Cup pose a threat to the well-being of players who are already being “pushed to the limit” in the current calendar, according to a new report.
The men’s Player Workload Monitoring (PWM) report for the 2022-23 season from world players’ union FIFPRO has projected that changes to both competitions from the 2024-25 season could lead to an 11 per cent increase in the number of matches top players are involved in.
It looked at the example of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota, whose 64 games for club and country in 2021-22 could rise to 72 in 2024-25.
The new 36-team Champions League would involve a team playing up to 17 matches from the league phase through to the final – four more than the current 13.
The new 32-team Club World Cup, due to be played every four years from the summer of 2025 onwards, could involve seven extra matches for the teams reaching the final.
The tournament has the backing of the European Club Association, but the World Leagues Forum – currently chaired by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters – is opposed to the plans.
The PWM report said: “The Club World Cup is expected to take place in June-July, which is just after the end of the long club season for the majority of participants.
“This will undoubtedly further decrease the off-season rest period for many players and raise concerns about their ability to fully recover in time for the new season. In addition, high travel load will also be associated to the tournament.
“The reforms of the two major tournaments will ultimately increase the number of games played by top players who could conceivably feature in both.
“This poses a threat to the well-being of players who are already pushed to their limit with the current international match calendar.”
The report found Manchester United and Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes played 74 per cent of his matches ‘back to back’ – without a gap of at least five days in between, including 20 consecutive back-to-back matches.
Chelsea’s January recruit Enzo Fernandez played 70 per cent of his matches back to back.
That was despite the midfielder having no off-season rest at all last summer, having played a first friendly for Benfica just eight days after competing in the Copa Libertadores for Argentinian club River Plate.
He also only had a nine-day break between featuring in the World Cup final for Argentina and reporting back for club duty.
The report also compared the workload of young players from the current generation to their predecessors.
It found England midfielder Jude Bellingham has already played 14,445 minutes in his professional career before the age of 20, while Wayne Rooney had only played 10,989 minutes before his 20th birthday.
Jarrod Bowen: From Hereford and Hull to West Ham’s humble European hero
It has been quite a few weeks for Jarrod Bowen – the family man and England international who welcomed twin daughters into the world last month before delivering Europa League Conference success for West Ham.
Described by his first boss as a “manager’s dream”, Bowen’s last-minute winner in a closely-fought final against Fiorentina on Wednesday night provided an unforgettable end to West Ham’s 43-year wait for a major trophy.
The 26-year-old, whose partner is reality TV star Dani Dyer, has a down-to-earth demeanour which has seen him become a firm favourite among team-mates and the club’s supporters since he relocated to London in 2020.
“The best moment of my career” was how Bowen summed up the 90th minute at Prague’s Fortuna Arena when he latched on to a through-ball and beat the press to run in on goal and finish coolly to clinch a 2-1 victory and get manager David Moyes dancing.
Exactly a year earlier, the former Hereford and Hull player had come off the bench for England in their Nations League draw away to Germany.
It was his second cap in a number of days following a first international call-up after a fine season for the Hammers.
The World Cup was in sight for a man who had never been capped at any age-group level, but it was not to be, another career setback that Bowen would use as fuel to keep moving forward.
“I am disappointed I didn’t go to the World Cup, but three years ago I was playing for Hull City in the Championship. You have to look at it in different ways,” he said after missing the cut for Qatar.
“It’s about your mindset and the person you are to keep going and know what you can do. It’s just been about keeping going, never hide from it, never slump and keep always looking forward.”
Bowen featured in every Premier League game for West Ham this season, struggling, as much of the team did, in the early stages of the campaign.
But this is a forward fired up by unsuccessful trials at Aston Villa and Cardiff, determined to prove he is still worth being in the conversation when Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland pick their next England squad.
Peter Beadle worked with Bowen in the Hereford academy and took him along for the ride when he was appointed manager of the first team. Bowen’s rise to European trophy success will not have come as a shock to his old boss.
“He’s done nothing but go from strength to strength since and I’m not surprised one bit,” he told West Ham’s website when Bowen completed his move to the London Stadium in 2020.
“He’s a very humble human being. He comes from a very strong footballing background with his dad and he’s had a great upbringing. He’s honest and hard-working – a manager’s dream really.”
Last month Bowen announced the arrival of twin daughters with his partner Dyer, whose actor father Danny Dyer would have been just as jubilant when he saw Bowen run through on Wednesday night to win a trophy for his beloved Hammers.
Bowen is one of the most popular members of the West Ham dressing room but one of its quieter players.
However, actions spoke far louder than words when he tucked home past Pietro Terracciano to secure his place as a West Ham hero.
Man City’s holy grail and Pep’s tactics – Champions League final talking points
Manchester City face Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul on Saturday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some talking points ahead of the game.
City’s holy grailWinning the Champions League has been City’s top objective since their takeover by Sheikh Mansour in 2008 and, after a number of near-misses, it now feels tantalisingly within reach. Beating Inter Milan would complete a mission for the club’s hierarchy, as it would for Pep Guardiola, the man they hired to deliver it. Despite City’s near-dominance of the domestic scene in recent years, and the regularity with which they have reached the Champions League’s latter stages, Guardiola has admitted the club need to win it to truly underline their greatness. On a personal level too, Guardiola has been the greatest coach of his generation but it has now been 12 years since the second of his two triumphs with a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona and it is an itch he needs to scratch.
Treble bidVictory would not only fulfil a long-held ambition for City, but complete a glorious treble, earning them a place in the history books alongside arch-rivals Manchester United as only the second side to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season. United achieved the feat in 1999, at a time when City were fighting for promotion from the third tier. How their fans are enjoying the change in circumstances 24 years on.
Tactics and formCity will head into this game against the side that finished third in Serie A as overwhelming favourites. After an inconsistent spell either side of the World Cup, they hit form in the spring to reel in Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and power into two major finals. Their level of performance has arguably been better than anything they have produced before under Guardiola, with some particularly outstanding displays in key games against the Gunners, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Guardiola has often been accused of overthinking and getting things wrong tactically in the key matches, but there seems little reason to deviate now from what has worked well this season.
No injury worriesCity would appear to have a clean bill of health. There were concerns when Kyle Walker did not appear at an open training session on Tuesday, having been substituted late in the FA Cup final on Saturday, but the player allayed any worries, saying he would not miss the Champions League final “for anything”. Guardiola is therefore unlikely to stray much from the side which started against Arsenal and both legs against Madrid, which was: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodri, Gundogan, Grealish, Silva, De Bruyne, Haaland.
Inter’s planInter will be determined not to make up the numbers but manager Simone Inzaghi probably recognises City are likely to dominate possession, putting his side’s notably tough defence to the test. The Italians will hope to soak up the pressure and catch City on the counter, looking to the likes of Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko and Romelu Lukaku to take any chances that come their way.
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