Why Marcus Rashford could be perfect fit for Aston Villa after Man Utd transfer

They want dynamic, fast ball carriers and he fits into that Emery mould so I think it's quite exciting. As I was bellowing myself horse in the away end at Stamford Bridge on Monday night, the great and good of the football world up and down the country and across Europe were doing their very best to get some last minute transfers over the line before the 11pm deadline on Monday night. Mattis Tell did a U-turn after turning down Daniel Levy to decide he actually did want to go and play for Tottenham after all. Manchester City took their January spend to more than £175m as Nico Gonzalez arrived from Portugal with Pep Guardiola hoping the new Rodri can rescue their season. I'm Will Pugh and I'm back in the Tactics Exposed studio with a Sunsports Tactical Guru, Dean Scoggins for a transfer window special. Dean, rather than the five points that you've got usually for Premier League games, we've got big transfers to have a look at this time round. What ones are we going to have? Yeah, Aston Villa look like the window winners. Obviously Marcus Rashford who looks absolutely delighted to be in an Aston Villa shirt and then there was Asensio and Di Zassi as well signing and then obviously Manchester United, Patrick Dorgoo from Lecce. They did sign someone United despite all of the negativity that went with it and then probably the saga of the window was Mattis Tell going to Spurs. Very, very interesting player. Persuaded by a phone call by Ange apparently. He wasn't persuaded by Daniel Levy was he? No, it didn't sound that way did it? Spurs also got Danso at the back and Nico Gonzalez, Manchester City as you mentioned, a Rodri replacement. That's a big ask and then there was Evan Ferguson for your beloved West Ham who knows him a bit from, the potter knows him a bit from before and could be the answer finally after 54 strikers for West Ham. Yeah, striker number 706 signed in the last 10 years. Right, Marcus Rashford, as you mentioned, this ongoing saga since that interview he gave to Henry Winter saying he was after a new challenge. Ruben Amrim let down by his performances in training, not happy it seems with some of his lifestyle choices being made. The move takes him to Villa, a £40 million option in the summer. Villa are paying around 75% of his £325,000 a week wages. So that's Villa weighing out at £244,000. United still left covering about £80,000 of those. You think it's a good deal? I think it's intriguing, okay, and Villa are the one of the teams that, you know, let's bring it back to tactics, is as Villa are one of the teams that he can fit into and that's really key. I actually quite fancied him at Spurs, but we'll come on to tell later on, but you look at some of the other clubs that were linked with him who play, you know, short football, round the edge of the area, won't fit for Marcus Rashford and one of the reasons that it hasn't worked for in the last couple of years, we've talked so many times about Manchester United's inability to play out from the back and it hasn't worked for Marcus Rashford. Aston Villa playing away that could really suit Marcus Rashford, you know, sometimes a change is as good as a rest. Hopefully, look, he's a top class player, we're talking over 400 appearances from Man United. Is he anymore though? Well, that's the big question, but you don't score or don't, I think he's almost 200 goal involvements, we'll show the stats, in 400 games for Man United, but the last year or so have not quite been there. Aston Villa are not paying Manchester United the wages in order for Marcus Rashford not to play, okay, so they are going to take a risk on how he can play, so we should look at, I'd love to do a full episode on Aston Villa's lineup because they're really interesting tactically, but I'll keep it fairly brief. They're relatively normal in their setup as we talk about all the time, they set up as a 4-2-3-1, but they change that to a box midfield when they're in the opposition half where they go to three at the back, two players in front and then five attackers, but importantly with that box in midfield, but what's important for Rashford is how direct Villa are when they play out from the back, so they goad teams. Aston Villa, Emery likes to goad the press on, there's lots of passes so deep inside their own area, the likes of Paulo Torres who's injured at the moment, but if Villa were naming their first team, he's one of the first names on the team sheet, the likes of Konza, obviously De Zassi's going to go in there as well. They play the ball around at the back and he has what he calls press resistance players in midfield, which is a lovely phrase, hat tip to Alex Shilton, our resident Villa fan for that one, but he wants the midfielders to come deep and collect the ball, bring a player with them, opening up this huge space around about the halfway line and then one of the ball playing defenders will then play straight balls. Opposition fans who play against Aston Villa can't believe they're getting beaten by straight balls down the middle. Well that was me a couple of weeks ago. Absolutely, they did it with West Ham, they did it against Manchester City, they did it really really well against Arsenal as well where they could have scored a couple more. And it looks really basic doesn't it? It does look really basic, but it's very very clever because what it is, we know Ollie Watkins is an absolute dynamo, workhorse, one of the fittest players in the Premier League and he'll make those direct runs. But what it means is, what he does is one of the wingers and even John McGinn has fulfilled this role at Villa, will come into a number 10 position on one side to receive that straight pass then turns and plays another straight pass. Now that could be to Morgan Rodgers or Rodgers could be the passer of the ball to Watkins and importantly that's where a Marcus Rashford will make an out-to-in run. So starting on the left and making an out-to-in run into a straight position. Do you remember we did the Bakaya Saka episode where we talked about taking the ball on the run and that pass that comes into their pass so they can take the ball off the side. That's what Emery will be wanting Rashford to do and there's been a few frustrations at Aston Villa in recent weeks where they've had injury problems as well Villa and so they've run the likes of Watkins and I mean Duran obviously is less now but Rodgers, Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey have played a lot of football. So Rashford gives energy, he gives legs, he obviously hasn't played much football so he's not been overplayed but they want dynamic fast ball carriers and he fits into that Emery mould. So I think it's quite exciting. I mean the game against Tottenham on Sunday could be really intriguing. We could have De Zassi, Asensio and Rashford in one team straight in and then we could have Matis, Tell, Danso and Kinski in for spurs. So three transfer window signings each straight into the FA Cup. Yeah I think there might be a Cup tied one in there. I can't remember, I've done an awful lot of research this morning so before anyone gets in the comments. But yeah really intriguing, really really intriguing signing and look we're talking about an English axis there as well. You know you've got Ollie Watkins, Jacob Ramsey and Marcus Rashford and you could have a front three there but you know three Englishmen you know taking the top half of the Premier League by storm. So I'm going to come on in a minute Dino to one of your favourite things to talk about which is what teams do off the ball and how Rashford will play into that for Villa. But just quickly because don't forget they've signed Donyo Marlon as well. So you've got Watkins, Rodgers, Ramsey, Leon Bailey who I don't think many Aston Villa fans would be gutted to see out the team. Yeah Marlon and Watkins. Where do you see then, if everyone's fit, what's Villa's ideal front three? Well I think that's going to be a really intriguing one because I think there are a few Villa fans wondering how Asensio fits into that as well. But Morgan Rodgers has been a revelation. Because you don't drop Rodgers. No no you don't but I mean Asensio you know three Champions Leagues. You know Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, probably we're talking somewhere in the region of £300,000 a week. But £230,000 and Villa are covering all of it. Yeah so again another player you feel a little bit like you're not bringing in a player like that to sit him on the bench are you? But I think probably Jacob Ramsey is the one who needs a bit of a rest. But Villa you know Villa have got the Premier League, the Champions League and the FA Cup. Yeah. So there's plenty of games here but what we're talking about is profiles of player okay. So you've got the likes of Asensio and Rodgers who will take the ball on the half term and drive at opposition. And you've got the likes of Marlon, Watkins and Rashford who will drive in behind for those straight balls. So these are players complement each other and actually Jacob Ramsey's quite versatile in the fact that he can play in two of those positions. But you know it's quite a frightening prospect if you've had and this is where you know John Duran benefited from Ollie Watkins' work rate for so long because Ollie Watkins runs a defence ragged for 70 minutes and then with 20 minutes to go you think as a defender yes victory Ollie Watkins' board goes up on comes John Duran and then you know and then gives you the absolute run around for the last 20. So we could be talking about you know a Rashford and Asensio starting and then a Marlon and a Ramsey coming on. It's a dangerous front three. Yeah and off the ball then on Rashford just talk to me a little bit about Villa's sort of pressing style or lack of. Yeah they do like to press and win the ball high up but when they don't win it high up they retreat back so they do win the ball a lot of times 30 to 35 metres away from the opposition's goal which isn't necessarily great for Rashford because it's tight spaces there. For those who aren't aware that's sort of just beyond the halfway line but not right after. Yeah exactly yeah so you know I don't think we call it a really high press but because the likes of Watkins as I say are such hard working they do put defences under enormous pressure but yeah off the ball my favourite subject unselfish runners Ollie Watkins is a genius at it running in those diagonal channels we saw it for England when he came on as well he runs in those diagonal channels to open up spaces between defenders and that's where Rashford can really benefit and Marlon. Just quickly then Dino before we move on you mentioned there about Ollie Watkins being one of the fittest players in the Premier League it sounds to me of what you're talking about to be an effective player in an Unai Emery attacking quartet you need to work your socks off. Ruben Amerim who I don't think anyone is particularly questioning or suggesting is stupid or wrong has said that Marcus Rashford has not been applying himself in training are we going to need or has Marcus Rashford got what it takes in your opinion to be effective and do the work necessary to be effective in an Unai Emery attack? Well he's obviously convinced Villa that he can and will and Villa are obviously happy to trust that that's the case for that amount of a week. 244,000 weekly gambling. But Unai Emery loves a project and he loves you know getting feels like you can get the best out of certain players who other managers perhaps haven't and look if there's ever a project to get your teeth stuck into now it's Marcus Rashford and look it's going to go one of two ways isn't it it's going to be Ruben Amerim was correct and Aston Villa couldn't get a tune out of him either and where does that leave Marcus Rashford or it's going to be well come on Man United yeah you're your academy player your main man you're one who should be the poster boy at Man United is ripping it up at Aston Villa so but I do think there's a system issue as well I think I think you know we did we did do a show on 343 and I thought you know that maybe Marcus Rashford could be the one that leads the line in that Amerim obviously doesn't think that's the case and Rashford didn't do a lot to convince anybody he could in this Villa system he's going to be much more dangerous yeah Aston Villa also before we move on just got Axel de Zaza from Chelsea on loan a five million pound loan fee they're covering most of his wages about 80 to 100 grand he did nearly join Spurs but with Mings and Torres injured and Diogo Carlos at Fenerbahce Villa need to cover at the back as well Villa just as we move on they're they're floating very close to the old wages to revenue percentage around between 90 and 95 percent yeah I think so uh yeah they haven't played they haven't paid big transfers this win though and they got a lot of money in for John Duran obviously so but yeah and look de Zaza's a you know a Premier League player plays international football and Villa just absolutely needed cover at centre back but he's going to get a lot of time on the ball at Villa so we'll see that interestingly this week Patrick Dorgu Dino Manchester United signed in add-ons from Lecce a left back left wing back sensation just 20 years old six foot two now as I was doing the research for this Dino it felt exactly like the research I was doing when United signed Nusa and Maserati excuse me and you know tall strapping fullback who can get forward up and down and he just hasn't quite cut it as he you know it was perfect for the system um do we feel that Dorgu 30 to 40 grand a week they're paying in five and a half year deal he's still a youngster this feels like more of a potential signing but tactically were you expecting tactically it's perfect it's exactly the perfect it's exactly the player that that Amarim needs did you say that about Maserati though no my point about Maserati is his flexibility so I still think Maserati can play right of the back three in the Amarim three four three system and because he's two-footed and both-sided he can play both sides but what Amarim system is missing and when we watched you know they were defended brilliantly at Liverpool at Manchester City absolutely outstanding when they start with that five at the back but what they haven't got or they've only got one of who's Ahmad Diallo is that ball carrier the guy who runs 40 50 yard direct with the ball and Amarim system is built around players not passing the ball necessarily but driving into the space with the ball and when they get around the edges of the box don't give it to somebody else to play it in this is not one twos around the edge of the box yeah see the space in front of you and drive into it and that's the Amarim tactic and we'll see Dorgu's numbers goals progressive carries you know the distance he travels the speed at which as you said he's a big boy as well he's gonna get better we're showing it on the screen but you know he's he's you know we looked at the sporting sporting wing backs when we first looked at Amarim system and I could never pronounce his name I'm really sorry in the comments it's Kip Quinda Quineda yeah and the the right wing back and Dorgu's sort of a copy at sporting yeah at sporting Dorgu's kind of a copy of that on the left-hand side the other interesting thing about him as well is he scored goals at Lecce when they've played him right wing so if you think about the Amarim 3-4-3 there's a flexibility there where he could play on the right-hand side of the front three if somebody like Ahmad Diallo was gone but look United have sent Anthony out on loan they've sent Marcus Rashford out on loan they didn't just need Dorgu they needed a more than Dorgu but what it does by buying a wing back means that the whole Ahmad Diallo does he play at wing back does he play in the front three now goes away Ahmad Diallo plays in the front three so they have probably added an attacker that they don't need to play anywhere else but yeah Dorgu likes to play in that inside left channel charging up that the field and he beats players goes past people not quite sure about him defensively you know Lecce aren't having the greatest season so some of those games they've been under the cosh so naturally those defensive aspects have shown up a bit more when they're losing games 4-0 to Inter Milan but yeah he looks an exciting player well that's that's the thing Dino he's only 20 does he get in straight away you're talking as if he solves some problems he absolutely plays and you know the problems that Manchester United have got are that look as good a sort of well I've got to be too harsh on Diego Dalot but he's a full back that he's trying to play as a wing back okay so fairly gallantly yeah yeah and the effort the effort's always there but he does look like he's jogging when he's flat out sprinting whereas this Danny Ingson yeah you know and he's he's sort of treading water a little bit and running through treacle up that left wing back position but Dorgu won't look like that Dorgu is one of those players a bit like Marmouche that we talked about with Man City last week where when you see him move and travel you think wall quick so they'll see that straight away he'll go straight in absolutely fair play right Mattias Tell or Mattis Tell have we agreed yeah yeah okay and obviously I've watched a lot of this boy because uh because of the vested interest from Tottenham but I'm very excited by him right so he's arrived at Tottenham from Bayern Munich 45 million plus uh sorry 45 million option to buy in the summer it's a loan at the moment I understand it's a five million pound loan fee Spurs have paid and the option in the summer includes a six-year contract on the end of it he's only 19 Arsenal Chelsea and United were also having a look and it was a weird one with this this is one of those sagas as you mentioned there we ran the story in the sun Daniel Levy flew out to Germany to try and convince him he apparently wasn't convinced and then a long conversation eventually consist uh apparently convinced him to make the move to north London and what what's confusing with this one of the lines I read in in our paper this morning was that he was focused all the time on the place he would get most game time well the timeline would suggest to me that actually Daniel Levy came and he thought oh there's Arsenal Chelsea and Man United are all so keen on me here I tell you what I'm going to snub them for now hope I can get a move there none of those really came to fruition perhaps Marcus Rashford syndrome waiting out for a yeah I think so but I think it actually works out you know just taking my Tottenham fan hat off for a minute just take put that journalism point on it again that it actually I think is the best deal for everybody involved because he he quite rightly looked at a team 14th or 15th in the Premier League and was a bit like I'm better than that okay that's fine but Tottenham are still in three cup competitions might not be by the end of this week um but but they are but they are still you know Europa League and then you know beyond that it works out that if he does brilliantly well and convince his Spurs great if Spurs do brilliantly well and convince him great and then if Bayern Munich look at it and go hang on a minute this guy's too we've not been playing him enough you know there's there's that that sort of loan to buy option works for everybody and you mention Man United there you know if I was a young player at the moment I wouldn't be going near Man United on a loan because you just could waste three months. If you're a forward though you think you could you get game time. Yeah but yeah you know you if you're a forward I think that Andrew Postacoglou's way of playing is much more you know exciting and maybe the phone call there was was the was the key key factor. Correct me if I'm wrong are Man United above Tottenham in the league? They are yeah Tottenham score more goals. Right okay fine. But yeah but no look the I think that the system fits for him let's take it back to tactics again right let's the system fits for him we did one of the previous episodes and go back and watch if you haven't seen it on the wheels of chaos. Yeah. And Andrew Postacoglou's style of play where it's built around those three players on either side of the striker up front and let's remember that Tell can play any of those front three positions. Well he's a utility forward you told me that. And that's exactly what Andrew Postacoglou was looking for in this window. He wants I mean let for a start off with Tottenham's injuries at the moment you know the best ability is availability. Yeah so that. If you brought your boots to the Tottenham stadium. I nearly got a game last week. Yeah but the right wing striker or left wing position he can play in all three so at the moment spurs of a couple of left wingers available and barely any right wingers. So Son and Mikey Moore are the left-sided players and Kulishevsky's kind of on his own on the right at the moment. So perhaps Tell starts on the right. Perhaps he becomes the number nine when until Solanke comes back as cover for a Charleston and perhaps long term he's the replacement for Jong-Min Son. But look we're talking about another what's really interesting about this window is that we've got players who are like this all this similar type of profile. We've got a big boy he's six footish. He's powerful. He's quick and most importantly he travels quickly with the ball. And that's Ange Postacoglou football all over. Get the ball on the inside left or inside right corner of the box. The underlap. Go to that touch line and cut back or cut inside and shoot. He's also really two-footed which is like you know almost lost in the modern game. You know he'll come in and as a defender you don't know which way he's going to go. He's actually played against Tottenham before in the conference league for Rennes. So I have seen him live. I've watched lots and lots of him over the last few days and I watched him in the Champions League when he scored against Manchester United and he's got bags of ability. One question mark will be in that Ange Postacoglou system you have to work really hard and that will be his challenge. But yeah another really exciting window signing. Yeah well he wasn't going to get a sniff was he frankly at Bayern Munich. It's almost like he was too good to sit on the bench. What have they got? Koeman, Sane, Musiala, Muller, Kane. Don't forget Harry Kane. Yeah Nabri of course. Yeah an absolute wealth of talent. He just wasn't getting the game time. No he came through the Clairefontaine academy. He's in the French setup. He's you know probably one of the most sought after players in this window because of his profile and because of his situation. So fair play to Spurs. Yeah all right Manchester City signed Nico Gonzalez from Porto. You told me that there's loads of Nico Gonzalez. Lots of Argentinians but this is the Spanish one. Exactly. So unfortunately I think there are a couple of people who fell into the trap of the Argentinian Nico Gonzalez. Well I think I've got it right in my prep here. 50 million quid. 23 year old. The deal's till 2029. As I've said already that takes City spending to over the 175 million pound mark. Now a few of the reports I've mentioned the name Rodri an awful lot. Those are enormous shoes. Yeah the word Rodri replacement is quite pressure if you ever need one. Never mind coming into the Premier League and Manchester City in a team that's not quite where it should be at the moment but then you get told yes there's Rodri's position mate. Go and sit in there. Is he that good? Well he's not that good. Nobody's that good. Rodri's the best at it but if you're looking for a player around Europe who can do a similar role he's got it. He's got it. He again big powerful combative midfield player and when you see him play he's one of those players who gets a toe on the ball all the time. He's such an underrated quality. Like a breaker. Yeah absolutely and then not only does he get a toe on the ball he's got this sort of dynamic ability to get his foot across a player to get a toe on it to win it back and then roll that player out of the way to then go and drive forward with the ball as well. So whereas Rodri looks a lot more composed. I'm not quite with you. I was almost tempted to get you to show me. Yeah I don't want to bully you off the ball here in the studio but it's that just get your toe in first and whereas normally a smaller player might be knocked off the ball he stays on his feet and then can go and drive with the ball afterwards. So yeah he wins lots of little interception balls in midfield but he also likes getting in the box and when we talked again in the Man City episode when we introduced Mahmoud that it's this hopefully more direct approach from Man City into Haaland and off. Don't be surprised to see Nico Gonzalez getting in the box a few times as well and maybe City might cross it a bit more. They don't like crossing it in the Pep style but yeah he's a big tackler. He's a strong runner and I think he'll get put under a lot more pressure on the ball in the Premier League than he's used to but look schooled at Barcelona in the academy at La Masia, played Porto, Europa League, Champions League. You know his dad was a coach under Pep. All kinds of fits for Pep Guardiola. I think long term we'll see him in the midfield instead of Kovacic or Gundogan with Rodri but for the time being have three months trying to feel Rodri's boots mate. Yeah so Will one of the things Rodri does so well is effectively and I always say this about him when people ask he does the job almost of two usually like two players in one because of the the work he does which enables Man City to commit more players forward confidently going don't worry Rodri's back similar to what Liverpool are able to do with Virgil van Dijk. With Gonzalez are they going to be able to do that? Are they going to at least be able to be a little bit more confident in committing players forward than they have been this season without Rodri? Yeah I think so and I think where the structural problems they had in the Arsenal game on Sunday that we did in the previous episode he will solve that problem fairly quickly because Foden and Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne can go forward and unleash Savino one side and Mamos the other with the knowledge that they've the security blanket of somebody like that. I mean Kovacic is a top quality player don't get me wrong but I think that they're missing that physicality that Rodri brings and it's mental side of the game as well you know you play against someone of Rodri's physique and you think oh I'm in for a tough game today whereas Arsenal bullied Man City at the weekend he'll help with that problem definitely. Yeah Evan Ferguson, Dino, West Ham you delighted in telling me this morning it's the 54th striker that they've signed under. 341 million is that correct or is it 241 million? Whatever it is it's a lot of money. Whatever it's a lot of money for not a lot. Yeah a lot of money that Michael Antonio has been the striker throughout the whole time of those. Yeah they're converted back. So that's under Sullivan at West Ham so it has been let's say scattergun approach from West Ham in attacking areas you know full crook what's happened to him. Right he's been unlucky with injuries. What I like about this right and just give me the details so it's a loan until the end of the season as we know Graham Potter now West Ham manager gave Ferguson his Brighton debut at the end of the 21-22 season he's 20 years old he's got six he scored six in 19 games in that 22-23 season which is like his breakout campaign as we all know six in 27 the following year. The problems are is his injuries right ankles in particular he missed 11 months out of the last 18 months with injuries of one form or the other and he's played just 12 Premier League games this season until another ankle problem in December one goal in 237 minutes. Fitness is one thing that's there for everyone to see that is a problem West Ham need to solve. Hopefully Graham Potter's knowledge of him will mean that he can manage that but you've touched on it there one thing that has frustrated so many West Ham fans particularly with centre forwards is that strikers were often signed particularly under David Moyes but even before that who didn't fit the system or the profile of what the club or the manager were trying to do. It was big name striker he's doing well in Europe Sebastian Haller Gianluca Scamacca great footballers have they've gone on to prove either side. Scamacca was the Italian of the panic buy wasn't he? That's it well no but he was he was clearly a good player yeah and uh sorry I'm clearly too angry about this to joke but what I like about this Ferguson signing is that he fits the profile of powerful West Ham leader striker who I always say this is seven out of ten at everything seven out of ten quick seven out of ten powerful seven out of ten finishing seven out of ten in the air Arnautovic was like that success Antonio believe it or not was like that success Diafra Sacco probably the last success we've had all the others were too specifically good at one thing not good at everything yeah you don't need me to do this I don't really I don't really no it's always about Evan Ferguson again there's a theme here isn't there and in these profiles of the players that have all been bought this window you know big quick physical direct and that's what West Ham are getting that you know his injury record obviously is difficult um but he was also behind someone at Brighton who is the one of the most tactically adaptable players that you've ever seen in Danny Welbeck okay absolutely wonderful player for a manager to go I need you to do this job so but so Brighton go from Potter to Deserby to Hertsler and in that Danny Welbeck can just do those jobs so not only were there injury problems it's difficult to shift someone like that who's just doing those jobs but there's no there's no accident that five six seven clubs were after Evan Ferguson okay and West Ham have done a really good job getting him the Potter factor obviously comes into that but it's exactly right what West Ham lack is that focal point to their attack Kudas wonderful player Bowen you know would get in probably every team in the Premier League apart from Liverpool but could still with Salagos don't don't forget that um but you know you you then have these buzzing players who need somebody to play off and Ferguson will give them that hopefully Potter can get him up to 100% fit and then he becomes the point of that triangle in attack and then he will score goals as well but he's going to become a real provider and a focal point to drag defenders towards him so that those flyers can go past him I think West Ham can be really excited I think he's one of the ones that's kind of gone under the radar in this window that could be the one we're talking about in the next couple of weeks.