Louis van Gaal heaped praise on Manchester United’s young stars after ending a tough Europa League clash with FC Midtjylland in style.
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“It’s great. You can’t put a price on that for the younger lads, especially Marcus”, Carrick, who made his senior bow as a teenager with West Ham in 1999, told MUTV, United’s in-house television station. Ander Herrera, from the spot, and Memphis Depay added further gloss to the scoreline for the hosts, who progressed 6-3 overall. “At the end, 5-1 with many youngsters in the team is fantastic”.
The Dutchman has been under fire all season for inconsistent results and lacklustre displays, with “the Special One” touted as the frontrunner to replace Van Gaal when United’s patience in the experienced coach wears thin.
Van Gaal, asked if he had any doubts about putting Rashford in the team, told a post-match news conference: “I didn’t have another option so it was easy”.
With an injury crisis coursing through Van Gaal’s squad, Rashford is likely to be starting up front against Arsenal in a globally anticipated English Premier League game in front of almost 80,000 spectators on Sunday.
Van Gaal was not surprised by Martial’s injury giving how many matches he has had to play this season saying “he can be exhausted because he is only 20 and he has played all the matches” which shows how important he has been, and he strikes fear into oppositions defenders when he plays with his pace. Those five are either injured or on loan (Wilson) so Rashford is likely to start against Arsenal, a game United needs to win to keep in touch with the top four.
I believe they crossed the middle line for the first time when they scored. Much of its defending was last-ditch and Depay was rampant down United’s left, in arguably his best game for the team.
With the scores level on the night and United 2-3 down on aggregate, Rashford netted his first from close range off a Juan Mata cross.
But Rashford was on hand in the 75th minute to slot in a close-range finish from Guillermo Varela’s cross to complete a fairytale debut.
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Marcus Rashford and Memphis may have grabbed the headlines in Manchester United’s emphatic Europa League victory over Midtjylland but it was a strong all-round team performance, according to stand-in captain Michael Carrick.
