Michael Carrick says that Marcus Rashford is here to stay at the highest level, as he reflected on the 18-year-old striker’s decisive performance for Manchester United in their 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final replay win at West Ham United on Wednesday.
Rashford scored the opening goal – a clinical finish into the top corner from the edge of the area – to make it six in 11 appearances for the club and set them on their way to a first Wembley appearance since the Community Shield victory against Wigan Athletic under David Moyes in August 2013. They will face Everton in the semi-final at the national stadium on Saturday week.
Rashford has taken his opportunity in fine style, after being granted his debut in the Europa League win against FC Midtjylland on 25 February – in which he scored twice – and Carrick has been impressed by his big-game temperament. Rashford also scored two in the 3-2 win against Arsenal in his second match and the winner in the derby at Manchester City.
The emergence of a fearless and exciting local player from the youth ranks has been a tonic to everyone connected to the club, not least the manager, Louis van Gaal, who has struggled to map a dynamic path forward.
“It’s so good to see young lads come in and do well and take their chances,” Carrick said. “Not in his wildest dreams could he have predicted what’s happened to him in the last two or three months and he has kept his feet on the ground.
“He doesn’t change and he works hard, listens and is willing to learn. He has a great chance of staying at the top for a long time. I don’t think he’s a flash in the pan. I don’t think he’s in and out. I think he is here to stay and goals like that [at West Ham] – we will welcome more of them.”
Van Gaal got himself into a muddle at Upton Park when he was asked whether he had been to Wembley previously. He said that he had during his first spell in charge of Holland, when his team enjoyed a 2-0 away win against England in August 2001. But that game was at White Hart Lane.
Van Gaal did experience Wembley when his Barcelona team beat Arsenal 4-2 in a Champions League group phase tie in October 1999, when the London club were using the national stadium for their European games. What is clear, though, is that Van Gaal and his players intend to use their trip to Wembley to galvanise them.
Carrick said: “We haven’t done well enough in recent times in the FA Cup but we are aware of that and we are desperate to go all the way.
“It’s been a season of setbacks and then good results, and it’s frustrating that we keep trying to get that consistency and have a couple of good games and then a bad one. It sets us back but West Ham was a one-off [tie] and we are delighted to get through. It means a lot.”
The Everton game is a rematch of the 2009 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, which Everton won on penalties. Carrick was not in the United squad that day but Marouane Fellaini, the United midfielder, played for Everton, who went on to lose the final against Chelsea.
“A couple of the boys were talking about that game and we felt that was one that got away from us,” Carrick said. “It’s an opportunity, a one-off and we will go down there and look forward to it but that is not the end. Getting to Wembley – it’s a semi-final and that is all it is. We haven’t achieved anything yet.”
Fellaini added: “I was in the team, then, for Everton and we won, so this time I hope I win on the other side. It’s something to look forward to. A club like Man United – we have to win something, and I think all the players want to do that this season.”
