Oh boy. This is going to be difficult. Being blunt, no Manchester United player deserves this reward.
Their performance in the 2-1 loss to newly promoted Huddersfield, the first in 65 years, was so lacklustre that even Jose Mourinho could not defend the team.
There are times in life as a football coach, player, and fan, where you understand that the opposition has outclassed your side on the pitch, and all you can do is stand up and applaud the other team for their footballing genius.
The most recent example of that would be Barcelona’s 3-1 Champions League final victory in 2011, where David Villa, Pedro, and Lionel Messi tormented United’s defence throughout the match. Afterwards, Sir Alex Ferguson commented that Barcelona were the greatest club side he had encountered in his long career.
Huddersfield are no Barcelona. Not to take anything away from a gritty, determined and professional display but if United had turned up with the right attitude and a fully fledged first team the likelihood they would’ve one.
And this is what is so frustrating to a lot of United fans. Not only the fact that they lost at the John Smiths Stadium but the way they conceded the goals was that of a Sunday league side.
So far this season it has been refreshing to look at spells in games where United have dominated the opposition, not because of their technique but because they can bully sides from left to right, twisting and turning their opponents relentlessly for 90 minutes.
Attitude is key to any football match and against Huddersfield, it looked like that the team lacked the fighting spirit to mount a comeback.
There was though one player whose professional attitude shone throughout the afternoon, and quite frankly he made a mockery of a selection of his teammates. No surprise to hear that the player is Marcus Rashford.
Rashford was introduced by Mourinho at half-time to replace the booked Anthony Martial, who could’ve quite possibly been sent back to the changing room after squaring up to three Terriers players in the first 20 minutes of the match.
Since Mourinho’s installment as manager, the Portuguese man has implemented a favoured 4-2-3-1 formation meaning Rashford has played out on the left on many occasions.
But against Huddersfield United had to chase the game, so Rashford played in a front two with Romelu Lukakau to create a forceful impact late on.
In the 78th minute, the two combined to pull a goal back for United, Rashford meeting a curling Lukaku cross to head unmarked past a motionless Jonas Lossl, but it wasn’t enough.
Only Wayne Rooney has scored more Premier League goals as a teenager for United than Rashford. If there was a stat which summed up the England international’s attitude to the game then it’s that. Against Huddersfield, it showed.