“You’re running too much,” Louis van Gaal told Marcus Rashford. It was half-time in Manchester United’s Europa League game against Midtjylland, and one of the world’s most celebrated coaches was trying to impart a few words of wisdom to the 18-year-old striker making his first-team debut.
“Stay between the width of the six-yard box,” he assured Rashford, “and you’ll score.” In the second half, Rashford took Van Gaal’s advice on board. He was rewarded with two close-range goals, United won 5-1 and Van Gaal had seen enough to hand Rashford a Premier League debut against Arsenal that weekend. Rashford would finish the season with eight goals, a place in Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad, but above all the impression that this teenage sensation could be anything he wanted.
