Manchester United season review: Strikers
By Josh McSwain
As United’s offense struggled most of the season, part of the blame falls on the strikers; those meant to score goals. Zlatan Ibrahimovic did all he could, but he got little help from the players around him putting the ball in the net.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The big Swede pretty much carried United’s offense all year with 28 goals in all competitions (don’t let the video below confuse you it is 28–the video is missing his final goal of the season against Sunderland).
The through balls were just cherry picked there for his powerful leg to finish off.
Even at 35 years old he showed few signs of slowing down. He may not have quite the quickness he used to, but his level of skill made up for it.
He’s a big, physical player with plenty of experience who could score in different ways. Sometimes with his head (as we saw in the Community Shield game against Leicester City) as well as his foot. Whenever United needed someone to make a play, he made it. Case in point was the game against Everton where he scored on a penalty shot after a handball by Ashley Williams.
The biggest downside was the wastefulness of chances. Of course, considering he was the vast majority of the team’s offense, he had plenty of chances to waste opportunities. It should not take away from the fact he put the team on his back most of the year.
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Marcus Rashford
With his two goal debut against Manchester City in the 15-16 campaign, much was expected of the teenager this season. However, his opportunities were limited largely to Europa League and Cup games due to the presence of Zlatan. He did get some time at striker after Zlatan was injured at the end of the season but most of his time on the field in the Premier League was on the wing.
He still has the unbelievable pace that gives opponents fits. However his passing flaws were shown on the wing this year and he failed to cross the ball into the box with any real effectiveness last year; which is crucial for a winger.
He’s still young and has a lot of room to grow, so it’s only fair to consider him a work in progress. However it was abundantly clear that he’s best suited as a center forward; which may be hard to come by with Romelu Lukaku on his way into the fold. I imagine he will be the first choice at striker for FA Cup and League Cup games this year though.
Next: Season review: Centre Backs
There are some rumors of Anthony Martial leaving (which I doubt happens), that would clear the way for him to get the bulk of the time on the left wing should United not be able to lure a winger like Ivan Perisic in.