Colin Sheridan: Change as good as a rest for Rashford and Grealish
Manchester City's Jack Grealish gestures to the crowd after the Premier League match at Villa Park las month. Pic: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.
On the surface, Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford have a lot in common. Similar in age - the former is 29 years old, the latter 27 - both were prodigious footballing talents, homegrown kids who made their names at their boyhood clubs in Manchester and Birmingham. One - Grealish - had a reputation for the good life that looked potentially problematic in his formative years. The other - Rashford - developed similar nocturnal proclivities, just a little later in life. A pair of English internationals with 99 caps between them, and 21 goals (albeit 17 of those are Rashford’s), both have starred in major tournaments for England, and been sensationally left out by managers who - one can only guess - saw their sporadic talent as an indulgence rather than a necessity. This season, Grealish has appeared 14 times for his club, Manchester City, scoring no goals, and providing one assist. For Manchester United, Rashford has one more appearance than Grealish (15), has scored four more goals (four), and provided the same number of assists (one). The pair reportedly earn £300,000 (€361,000) respectively a week. Both have spent more time on the bench than most district court judges.
While their current status as well-paid extras in the soap opera that is the Premier League will win them little sympathy amongst fans who shell out big every weekend to watch them not play, you can’t help wondering what the players themselves must be thinking? Is this as good as it gets? Grealish has a Champions League medal, three Premier league medals, and FA Cup, a UEFA Super Cup and FIFA World Club Cup medal in his locker. Almost certainly he would’ve won none of those had he stayed at Aston Villa, where he was a hero to the Holte End because - even as opponents tried to kick the legs from under him - he played with the freedom of a gifted kid in a park. For his troubles, Rashford has won a couple of FA and League Cups, a Europa League, and has been voted the club's player of the year twice. Off the field, he’s been awarded an MBE for his incredibly admirable services to charity, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester. For a man so young and privileged, Rashford has displayed an altruism rare amongst sports people so conditioned to brand and bottom line. That his form has virtually disappeared as his philanthropy has grown is an unfortunate coincidence. Far more problematic for consecutive Manchester United managers has been Rashford’s burgeoning social life. As the goals have dried up, his appearances in the nightclubs of Manchester, Belfast, London and New York have received far more column inches than his play on the left wing. Yesterday, he missed United’s visit to Anfield with illness. Given his form this season, his absence was barely noticed.
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