Gareth Southgate hailed Manchester United attacker Marcus Rashford for his attitude during the European Championship journey.
Speaking after England’s historic semi-final win against Denmark yesterday (via HaytersTV), Southgate saved a mention for Rashford, who did not feature on the night.
This has been a theme throughout the tournament for United’s no.10.
He is yet to start a match at the Euros, due to the amount of creative talent in the Three Lions camp.
In fact, the 23-year-old has only mustered 82 minutes in total during the competition.
However, Rashford remains highly valued by his national team manager, who praised his player’s patience.
Southgate said: “We’ve got some stars who haven’t had the amount of football they would want, the likes of Marcus Rashford who has just got on with things and accepted that at the moment he’s had to wait and be patient but we wouldn’t have got to the point we’ve got to without the mentality of the whole group.”
Marcus makes way
Rashford is not used to taking a back seat on the big occasions.
Last season, he played 57 times for the Red Devils across all competitions, including the Europa League final.
However, the flying forward is not alone where minimal minutes are concerned.
Soon to be United college Jadon Sancho has been used sparingly at the Euros, much like Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Ben Chilwell and Ben White are yet to kick a competitive ball in the campaign.
It is a healthy problem Southgate has on his hands, made even trickier by the fact he was allowed to select a 26-man squad, rather than the mandatory 23.
“The guys that were with us in Middlesbrough – Jesse, Prowsey, Ollie Watkins, Trent – they’ve all played a part in this and they’ve been immense in their acceptance of the different roles and the moments to come in,” continued England’s coach.
Jesse Lingard was left out of the group after making the preliminary 33-man roster.
His form with West Ham United following the January loan move from United made him an easy pick for the initial pack.
It also caused the Old Trafford hierarchy to seriously consider keeping him for the upcoming campaign, amid returning interest from the Hammers.
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