Marcus Rashford Humiliates Manchester United And Arsenal

Ollie Watkins was raging.

After watching Aston Villa fend off a $53 million bid from Arsenal in January and sell its only serious rival for his position up front in Jhon Duran, he found himself benched for both games of the club’s Champions League Semi Final clash with Paris Saint-Germain.

These are the moments the 29-year-old England forward has been striving for since he emerged as a young talent with Exeter City over a decade ago. They are also ones he must feel he deserves, considering how much he has contributed to the Birmingham side in reaching the latter stages of the competition.

Yet he could only watch for most of the two games as his team toiled to defeat.

“I played 20 minutes against PSG in both games. I am not going to lie, I was fuming that I wasn’t playing – I let [manager Unai Emery]

know that,” Watkins told Sky Sports afterwards.

“He’s the manager; you have to respect his decision, [but] I am not one of these players happy to sit on the bench.

“It is something I have not experienced before, to miss out on the biggest stage. I wanted to be out on the pitch for much longer. I have played a big part to get to where we are today and I want to play in those games.”

Elevated back to the starting lineup for the subsequent Premier League game against Newcastle United, he channeled his disappointment in the right manner, scoring within a minute and assisting another goal in a resounding 4-1 victory.

After the dominant display, Watkins suggested he’d given his manager a selection headache.

“I’m banging on the door asking why I’m not playing,” he added.

”Since I have been at Villa, a lot of fans would say it is the best squad we have had.

“The signings we made in January, players like [Marcus]

Rashford and [Marco] Asensio coming in, the quality means players like myself have to drop to the bench and there’s going to be lots of rotation.”

In response, the ever-calm Emery embraced his striker’s attitude.

“It’s fantastic to be angry and fantastic for him to play like he did [against Newcastle].” He told the media.

The reason for Watkins’ omission is quite simple: Marcus Rashford, who signed on loan from Manchester United when Duran left, has been superb.

His form has been so strong that few would argue with Emery’s decision to pick the Mancunian ahead of Watkins for the games against PSG or dispute the decision in the aftermath.

Although Villa ultimately fell short across the two legs, Rashford was electric in the game at Villa Park when fightback nearly saw the Villains take the game to extra time.

Watching from the stands, former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was one of many in awe.

“I have to say, I have to give a massive shout-out to Marcus Rashford,” he said postgame, “I thought he was fantastic, the Rashford we’ve seen over the years.

“His skill, his ability, getting at players, driving at players and then his awareness to pull the ball back.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his previous associations, Rooney was not hoping that Rashford would continue turning in such displays, but not in Birmingham.

“I hope he goes back to Manchester United and performs like he did today,” he added.

“That’s what we all want to see as United fans. He wants to play for Manchester United, 100 percent.”

The narrative around Rashford’s move to Villa is that it is his last shot. But the surprising truth is that he is two years younger than Watkins.

Beginning your career as a teenage sensation at Manchester United rather than Exeter City clearly influences how people perceive you.

But the overwhelming perception for the past two years has been that Watkins is in the ascendency and Rashford is stuttering.

You only have to look at the suitors the pair had in January. Title-challenging Arsenal were vying for Watkins, while Rashford’s only real option was Villa.

The embarrassment for Manchester United letting a striker leave who then is the star in a Champions League tie against elite opposition is obvious.

But, equally, there should be red faces in the Emirates. Overlooking Rashford for Watkins now looks like a major opportunity missed.

Would he have narrowed the gap to Liverpool in the title race? And, given they thought Raheem Sterling was worth a punt on loan, was this not an absolute no-brainer?

Currently, it is Aston Villa that can afford the smug grin. If they let Watkins leave for a high price in the summer and replace him with Rashford, then they’ll be swapping a talented forward reaching the end of his peak years with a younger man of greater pedigree.

That might sound ridiculous to some, given Watkins’ career has been on an upward trajectory.

But that’s what we need to remember: a trajectory. The former Brentford man came from a lower starting point, and his improvements were more striking. But that did not automatically make him better than Rashford, who has always operated at the highest level.

So many have been blinded by the performance curve, which shows how careful we must be when placing too much weight on the narratives surrounding players. Sometimes, they obscure the bigger picture.

What’s remarkable is that in an age of data and cold, hard facts, the perceptions around Rashford and Watkins appear to have influenced the thinking at two of England’s biggest clubs.