When the youngest of the trio that are setting the Premier League on fire was born (in October, 1997);
Sir Alex Ferguson was just plain ol' Alex Ferguson caught in the midst of rebuilding his Manchester United side after the retirement of one Monsieur Eric Cantona. Arsene Wenger was leading a down-in-the-dumps Arsenal side to their first title in six years and an era of unprecedented brilliance - in his first full season at Highbury.
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Pep Guardiola was captaining a Louis van Gaal managed Barcelona that won a face-saving La Liga title after a three-year (forever in Catalan) hiatus. He was also simultaneously learning the tools of the trade that would make him a global icon – alongside a certain promising young assistant manager named Jose Mourinho.
Manchester City meanwhile were languishing in the Championship – money infusion, and unprecedented success many years away – and they ended the season at 14th, their lowest finish ever.
Things now are a whole lot different; and Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Iheanacho and Marcus Rashford ply their trade in an environment that is virtually unrecogonisable. One thing though, has remained constant - The excitement engendered by the breakthrough of brilliant young talent.
Also Read: Iheanacho or Rashford: Who is the prince of Manchester?
The three kids in question all broke through at various points last season – and played with varying regularity – but without a shadow of a doubt are the most exciting teenagers playing football in England today.
But who is the best of the lot?
Alex Iwobi
It's the swagger that really stands out with Alex Iwobi.
When he was thrown on at the deep end, against Barcelona, at the Nou Camp, in the Champions League one of the first things he did was flick the ball around Lionel Messi just outside the Arsenal box – little was just another school game, and Lionel-freaking-Messi was just some other opponent.
The thought that he could miscontrol the ball, that he could end up gifting the world's Best Player the ball on a platter, never even crossed his mind.
This weekend, against Hull, the young Nigerian could be heard screaming at Mesut Özil to get back in position. He didn't say it with arrogance – nor was it taken by the World Cup winning German genius in a bad way – but it says a lot about a young player when he feels confident enough to voice his opinions, no matter how senior the colleague is.
This season he's already scored two goals, and provided three assists (joint highest in the Premier League) – but even those numbers hide just how brilliant he has been on the field. Usually posted on the left wing, he tends to pop up everywhere and come up with decisive interventions – both in offence and in defence.
The Nigerian has the silken touch and mesmeric close-control that enables his innate, and rare, vision and cheekiness to come out in flow when it really matters.
The best thing is that he seems to genuinely enjoy playing his football – a quality that he seems to have picked up from his uncle. You may have heard of that old geezer – a certain Mr. Jay Jay Okocha (Any excuse to link an Okocha video!)
“What I like is his love for the game, his passion for the game and his hard work. Those things together, in our world, are a big quality and so I think he has interesting ingredients, but one game does not make a career. The consistency of your attitude makes a career.” – Arsene Wenger
Wenger may have been sounding reserved to ensure his young star remains grounded, but there is a brimming optimism about the lad at Arsenal that cannot be suppressed. And for good reason.
The Key numbers for Iwobi -
- Matches Played - 19
- Goals scored - 2
- Assists provided – 5
Kelechi Iheanacho
Kelechi Iheanacho has now scored 10 goals in the Premier League, despite only attempting 14 shots on target in the competition.
It's one of the stats that says so very much about the special talents of a football player. 14 shots, 10 goals. It's a ratio that even the great Gerd Müller would have been proud of.
Iheanacho came to City's attention due to this superb goal-scoring prowess. Having represented Nigeria at every youth level (from under-13 upwards), he shot to top on every scout's radar when he bagged six goals (including one in the final) and the Golden Ball along with it.
He technically qualifies as a City Academy product and is the first to break through under the new monied regime.
However, the major drawback with playing for a side like City is that you have to contend for starting places with the likes of Sergio Aguero. When fully fit the Argentine is the best striker in the league, and so it is but natural that many of Iheanacho's appearances have come from the bench.
What he's done with those appearances is what makes him so special; Fast, skillful and intelligent on the ball, his greatest strength appears to be the supreme clarity of thought he has when he gets the ball at his feet – his positioning ensuring that this occurs mostly in the most dangerous of areas.
Often times the one quality that differentiates a good striker from a great one is this clarity of thought – the ability to ensure your mind doesn't get muddled with the plethora of options that are often available -and to ruthlessly pick the one that has the most chance of success.
As that stat posted above shows, he's proved it again and again on the big stage.
The Key numbers for Iheanacho -
- Matches Played - 19
- Goals scored - 11
- Assists provided – 4
Marcus Rashford
Renowned American motivational speaker Zig Ziglar is famous for saying - “There is no elevator to success... You have to take the stairs”. And that's how it is for most of us. The road to achieving anything respectable is a long, long, grind.
Someone forgot to tell Marcus Rashford that though. Thrown into the Manchester United team during a must win Europa League match, and that too due to an injury to the regular starter in the warm up, the young lad from Wythenshawe, Manchester, scored with his first shot of competitive senior-level first-team football.
This, and a long injury list, meant he kept his place for the next weekend's Premier League match. So he scored in that match too – again with the first shot of his Premier League career.
In an otherwise disappointing season for United, the local lad emerged as a beacon of hope, and as the matches went on, and the pressure grew – he kept calm, and kept scoring. Even today, with United besieged on all quarters by problems aplenty, Rashford is an oasis of calm that offers hope and excitement.
He even broke another record when he became the first teenager to score a Premier League goal under a side managed by Jose Mourinho when he scored against Hull this season.
Yes he's got lucky – he got a break that no one saw coming (not many at the Academy had marked him out as a potential star - he was always deemed adequate and not much more), but by Jove! has he made the best of it.
Displaying an almost eerie calm, on and off the ball, Rashford has used that leverage the maximum out of his obvious physical qualities – speed, size and strength. And when called upon has finished with expert precision, whether they be headers, tap-ins or long range curlers.
Also Read: Marcus Rashford ready to be United's number 10
He may have taken the elevator, but he shows no signs of climbing down anytime soon.
The Key Numbers for Rashford
Matches Played - 35Goals scored - 9Assists provided – 2
Who's Better?
What stands out amongst all three is their ability to remain serene under pressure that would drive a human being mad, and the resulting utter lack stage fright. It is quite remarkable that these three have performed so well over the past few months we've been seeing them, and it's even more astonishing that they seem to be improving game after game.
Still unsullied by cynicism, they have been a breath of fresh air that has helped dispel (to a certain extent) the staleness that has surrounded the Biggest Clubs in England.
Here's my comparison of the three – I've used gone for more qualitative assessment (based of course on the quantitative stats we just saw) – marks given out of 5
Quality | Iwobi | Iheanacho | Rashford |
| Goal scoring threat | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Chances Creation | 5 | 4 | 3.5 |
Defensive ability | 3 | 2.5 | 3 |
| Link-up play with team | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4 |
| Vision | 4.5 | 3 | 3 |
| Physical Prowess | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Total | 23.5 | 22.5 | 22 |
Iheanacho may have the most goals and with it the most number of quantitative points; and Rashford the most powerful impact - nothing beats the narrative of coming out of nowhere and saving Manchester United's bacon (so much so EA Sports have based a game mode off of him); but for my money Alex Iwobi is the more complete player at the moment– he's got a well-rounded game that enables him to contribute both on and off the ball, superior vision and playmaking ability, and a rare talent that allows him to control the flow of the game that the other two lack currently.
It's close, but Iwobi comes up on top. What do you think?
