Ryan Giggs names perfect partner for Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford

February 5, 2020
Posted by Steven Tan | Source from Manchester Evening News
Ryan Giggs says Marcus Rashford would be a dream partner for Eric Cantona, as he imagined how the current Manchester United striker and iconic Frenchman would look like in the same team.
 
Giggs and Rashford were discussing the similarities and differences between their progressions to the United first team and how the pair adapted to first team football.
 
Club legend Giggs made his debut in 1991 as a 17-year-old, and went on to make a club record 926 appearances. Rashford was 18 when he made his first appearance against Midtjylland in the Europa League, with Giggs the assistant manager at the time.
 
In a chat between the two players for B/R Football, Rashford asked Giggs what it was like being called up to the first team with senior players he had previously admired - and in particular Rashford wanted to know what Cantona was like to play alongside.
 
"He was just different," Giggs explained.
 
"You see him there, look how big he is. People don't realise how big and strong he was. He was like a target man but also he had them little touches."
 
 
Giggs then turned to Rashford, explaining how his pace would have been a perfect complement to Cantona's distribution.
 
"For you he would have been a dream," Giggs continued.
 
"Because you know when you make those runs, he would always find you, and you wouldn't have to break stride. You know sometimes in a game, you make runs, you make runs, but no-one's finding you? As soon as he got the ball, he wasn't interested in scoring - he wanted to score - but he got as much pleasure out of making assists. He was brilliant to play with."
 
But it wasn't just Cantona's quality on the ball that impressed Giggs when he reached the first team, as the Frenchman's workrate stood out to the Welshman.
 
He added: "Just the way that he trained. You must have seen coming up to the first team, players you've looked up to, training hard. You watch them and how they train and conduct themselves."
  • Related keywords: Marcus Rashford, Eric Cantona, Manchester United, Ryan Giggs