Man Utd should be kicking off in fine form when the Premier League season resumes in a week on Friday and this could prove most timely for a familiar partnership ‘plus one’ to get back to their best.
Marcus Rashford and Anothony Martial have both had their best individual seasons but have only managed to start only a third of the games together this term before the coronavirus lockdown.
Thae fact that both are producing their best numbers in front of goal despite having been dogged by injury earlier in the season is a fitting testament to their achievements, but United have yet to see the best of them together often enough this season.
This however might be about to change as Rashford is certifiably fit after the double stress fracture in his back had threatened to call a premature end to his season while Martial is priming to pick up where he left off earlier. It stands to reason that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should be fielding his two most dangerous forwards in tandem for the final nine Premier League games of the season.
The duo have played together for only 17 of United’s 47 games so far this season with Rashford’s back injury having been the cause for derailing what had been a promising partnership, leaving Martial shouldering the goalscoring burden. Ironically it had the other way around earlier in the season when the Frenchman missed two months with a hamstring injury.
The statistics are indeed exceptional when they play alongside each other as in eight of those 17 games both players have found the back of the net, which is a remarkable record in itself. This clearly highlights their explosive dynamics as a partnership and just how dangerous United are with both in the team. In total there have been 36 goals in those 17 games, with nine of them victories.
Both Rashford and Martial have not had the opportunity to play together since the arrival of Bruno Fernandes, and this inclusion of the Portuguese’s vital creativity to the midfield could prove to be the scintillating menage a trois that would add that indelible sparkle and sizzle to United’s performances on the pitch.
This prospect would be especially mouth-watering especially now with the improved defence and Fernandes’ presence that culminated in their recent 11-game unbeaten run. Should United field a 3-5-2 formation when the season resumes, the trio could form a devastating front three, with Fernandes filling the gap behind the two forwards.
As far back as the start of February 2019 Solskjaer was predicting a bright future for Rashford and Martial. At that point the Norwegian had been in the job for less than two months, but he’d seen enough to realise the two young forwards could thrive together.
“They’ll play many, many years together, hopefully, so if they get an understanding of each other, because both are very good at coming in off the left,” Solskjaer said.
“Then the relationship of, if one of them plays centrally, then the other one has to have opposite movements, because they go out-to-in sometimes. When they play central, they go in-to-out on those runs, so I think, in the coming years, we’ll see loads of combinations between those two.”
Kudos to Solskjaer for having been able to foresee the dynamism of the partnership between the two forwards from even way back when. And now with the inclusion of Fernandes as the third piece of the puzzle, the chemistry is most likely to be most potent for United.
Adding Pogba to the equation?
Well, without anyone knowing for certain except for his agent and himself where the France striker is most likely to end up, United would have to cross that bridge when they come to it in due time soon. For now it is exciting enough just to visualise a Rashford-Martial-Fernandes dynamic threesome weaving their new brand of football wearing United colours.