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Gareth Southgate compares Marcus Rashford with Rooney and Owen

England coach Gareth Southgate has claimed that Marcus Rashford reminds him of a young Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney in terms of his playing mentality.

Gareth Southgate compares Marcus Rashford with Rooney and Owen

London, Sep 7: England coach Gareth Southgate has claimed that Marcus Rashford reminds him of a young Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney in terms of his playing mentality and he could be operated in any position in the field just like the mentioned players acted in their teenage days.

The English manager also compared Rashford's involvement with Manchester United's famous trio of Rooney-Ronaldo-Tevez, insisting that the 19-year-old could play the Wayne Rooney role in his team in future.

“I am sure he would rather be compared with Rooney and Owen than not. He is obviously a different type of player. He is as mature as they were in terms of their understanding of the game and the way he picks up concepts.

“I think he can play [up front], but you saw what he is capable of here and in Malta on the other wing. If you have flexible forwards who can play across the front line, if you think of United’s great forward line with Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo, interchanging then it is important.”

“Well, the great thing is that if you look at our forwards with Dele [Alli], who is only a year older [than Rashford], Harry [Kane] is only a couple of years older. We have some really exciting players coming through the under-21s as well. We know we can score goals, that is encouraging, and if we get the other bits right then we know we are dangerous in any game.”

Rashford scored one goal and made another assist to Eric Dier as England came behind from one goal down to beat Slovakia 2-1 on Monday to reach more close to being in next years World Cup.

The Three Lions won two out of two games in the World Cup qualifier in this international break and currently tops the group.

In both the matches, the performances from youngsters like Rashfors, Kane and Alli caught the eye of the pundits and now the England manager also claimed the same and suggested that it is good for the Nation that the attacking options are very much younger and could be developed to be great.

“Well, the great thing is that if you look at our forwards with Dele [Alli], who is only a year older [than Rashford], Harry [Kane] is only a couple of years older. We have some really exciting players coming through the under-21s as well. We know we can score goals, that is encouraging, and if we get the other bits right then we know we are dangerous in any game,” Southgate claimed.

Story first published: Thursday, September 7, 2017, 17:06 [IST]
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