Should Marcus Rashford Make The Final Cut For England For Euro 2016?

Should Marcus Rashford Make The Final Cut For England For Euro 2016?

So Marcus Rashford has been included in Roy Hodgson’s provisional England Euro 2016 squad. What are your thoughts? If Rashford gets the role that Theo Walcott got all those years ago when he went to the 2006 World Cup under Sven as a 17 years and 75 days old youngster and never kicked a ball, it will surely be a total waste of time. Walcott has since admitted that going to that World Cup came too early in his career.

The case of Marcus Rashford is a little different though as the United starlet is that little bit older as he is 18 turning 19 this October. That is not the only difference  – the next is much more significant as Walcott had not even played a Premier League match when he went to that World Cup and is still to start for England at a major tournament. Rashford meanwhile has played 17 first team matches with 10 Premier League appearances and the rest spread between the FA Cup and the Europa League, Crucially the youngster has scored 7 goals and can genuinely play as a winger or as a centre-forward which makes him an extremely dangerous option.

Rashford has also gotten used to playing in front of 70,000+ fans at Old Trafford so playing in front of big crowds in France should not be too daunting for him. We have run a poll over the past week or so on the site and the results are below for you to see. We asked if you thought United should let young Marcus go play at the Euro’s if selected and it was a resounding positive response  with 74% saying “yes” to only 26% saying “no”. Of course the squad still needs to be trimmed down to the final 23 from the provisional 26 players Roy Hodgson has selected but it seems like Andros Townsend, Danny Drinkwater, Fabian Delph and Rashford could be the men on the bubble along with and Jordan Henderson and Jack Wilshere who have fitness concerns to address. Of course in the build up to the tournament anything can happen with injuries etc so there is a pretty good chance Rashford will make the plane and if he goes he surely will at least make the bench and be used at the very least as an impact sub.


Exciting times for young Marcus Rashford although it was disappointing to see Jesse Lingard overlooked instead of Andros Townsend considering the breakout season from United’s young wideman. Still Lingard might yet get the call if any unfortunate injuries happen. Once his commitments with United in the FA Cup final and the rescheduled Bournemouth game are done, Rashford has the training camp with the national team to make his case for avoiding the final cuts to the squad. Much will depend on whether Hodgson wants to take 5 strikers although as previously mentioned this is where Rashford has a big advantage as he is quite adept as a striker and as a winger meaning the manager can take 5 strikers knowing that he will not be losing the extra option out wide should he leave out Townsend for example.

As the BBC reported here is the full provisional England squad…

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Fraser Forster (Southampton), Tom Heaton (Burnley).

Defenders: Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Danny Rose and Kyle Walker (both Tottenham Hotspur).

Midfielders: Dele Alli and Eric Dier (both Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph (both Manchester City), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and James Milner (all 3 Liverpool), Andros Townsend (Newcastle United), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal).

Strikers: Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rashford (both Manchester United), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool).

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