Marcus Rashford
26th February 2016, Manchester United must win against FC Midtjylland to stay alive in Europa League. Anthony Martial hobbles out during the warm-up and in steps an unknown teenager named Marcus Rashford.
An unknown name then, now a darling of all Manchester United fans, Rashford has had a meteoric rise.
Rashford emerged from the famed Fletcher Moss Junior Football Club, which has produced other United players like Wes Brown, Ravel Morrison, and Danny Welbeck.
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Playing in the under-18 and under-21 teams, the youngster was always touted to be a star someday, but nobody expected it to be so soon.
After his debut brace against FC Midtjylland, the young forward went on to score another brace against Arsenal in the very next match, and then became the first Mancunian after Paul Scholes to score a winning goal in the Manchester Derby (and derail Demichelis’s career!).
Rashford went on to break many records as he became the youngest English player to score on his debut and the youngest player to represent England at the Euros. He scored a hat-trick on his England U21 debut as well.
The English forward brought freshness, youth and vigour to former United manager Louis Van Gaal’s disciplined approach and played a vital role towards the end of last season for Manchester United. Yet to feature prominently in Mourinho’s United, the Manchester United striker did make his mark at the game versus Hull City, when he came off the bench to score the winner in the 93rd minute.
Kelechi Iheanacho
Kelechi Iheanacho, the young Nigerian, came to the footballing world’s notice when he helped Nigeria win the 2013 U17 World Cup. He was the player of the tournament and the Silver Boot winner, scoring 6 goals in 7 games.
Soon, big clubs like Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto, Arsenal and Manchester City came calling, and finally, Iheanacho signed for the Citizens in the summer of 2014.
Work permit issues did not let the Nigerian make an impact for the Citizens until the start of the 2015/16 Premier League season when he was given a place on the bench for City’s first game against the Baggies.
Iheanacho successfully made his mark in the star-studded City team as he featured in 38 games, scoring 16 times. City fans and pundits believed that the youngster was underused, as Pellegrini selected Wilfried Bony instead of the Nigerian.
The Nigerian scored a hat-trick against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, becoming the youngest scorer of a hat-trick for City since Joe Hayes back in 1955. Another high point for the Manchester City striker came when he was called up for the first team of Nigeria national team in November 2015 and scored his first international goal in only his 3rd appearance.
He has gone on to score 3 international goals in 5 appearances, the most recent being a screamer against Tanzania.
With Pep Guardiola at the helm, Iheanacho should get more minutes under his belt this season, and with Aguero suspended for the next three matches, he will have a huge role to play in the Manchester derby.
Comparison
Both United and City fans believe that they have the better youngster, and while both are punching above their weight, let us look at some statistics to see who is objectively better:
(Stats and Image Courtesy: www.whoscored.com and www.squawka.com)
Shots
Iheanacho has more shots per 90 minutes as compared to Rashford. But a more interesting stat is that 79% of all shots by the Mancunian are from within the penalty area, while 46% of all shots by the City forward are from outside the penalty box; illustrating their different playing styles.
Shot Accuracy
This makes for an interesting contrast with the last stat showing that Rashford shoots less, but is vastly more accurate than the Nigerian.
Dribbles
This statistic clearly shows why Manchester United fans love Rashford – the fearlessness while taking on a defender. The England forward attempted thrice the number of dribbles than Iheanacho.
While his percentage of successful dribbles are much lesser than that of the Nigerian, the Mancunian had numerically more successful dribbles than him.
Lost Possession
Both the players have almost an equal number of unsuccessful touches per 90 minutes, though the Manchester City youngster loses possession almost twice the number of times than that of Rashford.
Aerial Duels
Iheanacho clearly has attempted more aerial duels, maybe due to the fact that he stands 0.7 metres taller than the Mancunian.
With the kind of football Guardiola plays, Aerial duels might not be a defining stat for Iheanacho. But knowing the physicality of the Premier League, the Nigerian is certainly ahead of his immediate competitor.
Fouls Suffered
The Mancunian youngster is fouled more than Iheanacho, which can be attributed to the fact that he attempts to dribble more and also towards his ability to beat a defender using raw pace.
Key Passes
This stat might have more to do with the playing positions of the two players – while Rashford mostly started as an out and out striker (although he did play as a second striker for the U-18 side), the Man City striker has played as a second striker, as well as in the flanks, leading to more key passes.
Goals
When it comes to the final product, Iheanacho is the clear winner, scoring 0.85 goals per game to Rashford’s 0.65 goals per game.
Another interesting piece of stat is that Iheanacho takes 3.75 shots to score a goal to Rashford’s 3.625, showing that the English forward is slightly better when it comes to goal scoring efficiency.
The Verdict
Iheanacho said this about the comparison, “I hope people keep comparing us because if we can keep challenging each other in the coming years, it could be great for Manchester. If we both keep doing well, improving and scoring lots of goals for the team, it could be interesting.”
“I love a challenge, so when people compare me and Rashford it gives me more confidence and motivation. It also makes me work even harder. Rashford is a great young talent. He is big and strong and makes good decisions so I think he's going to be a really good player for United in the coming years. You can learn from every player, so I've learned from Rashford as well this season and I wish him all the best in his career.”
The Manchester clubs have two extremely talented youngsters vying to be the best striker in the city, the league and eventually the world. For now, the statistics between the two show that both Rashford and Iheanacho are very similar in their performances and both are the princes of Manchester.
