Antony and Marcus Rashford share key loan experience that Ruben Amorim is missing at Manchester United

Antony and Marcus Rashford are both experiencing positive loan spells away from Manchester United this season.

Manchester United decided to allow several first-team players to depart Ruben Amorim’s squad on loan in the January transfer window.

Marcus Rashford joined Premier League side Aston Villa while Antony moved to Real Betis in Spain. Tyrell Malacia also returned to the Netherlands to join PSV Eindhoven.

Amorim was only able to replace Malacia, with Patrick Dorgu coming into the club to bolster the left wingback position. Antony and Rashford’s departures have left the Portuguese boss light up front.

However, both players seem to be enjoying positive loan spells so far and there is one key similarity between their experiences away from Old Trafford.

Antony and Rashford sharing key loan experience to succeed

Antony has now played 11 games for Betis and registered four goals and as many assists. He was nominated for the La Liga Player of the Month for February.

The Brazilian winger has picked up a very strong relationship with former Real Madrid star Isco, who appears to be the heartbeat of Manuel Pellegrini’s side.

Antony and Isco have directly linked up for three goals and also been involved in various moves together since the United loanee’s arrival, with the Spanish midfielder praising the winger on various occasions.

Meanwhile, Rashford has had a similar experience at Villa Park, with the England international immediately picking up a relationship with fellow loanee Marco Asensio.

Rashford has registered four assists in his opening nine games for Villa and all of them have been for Asensio to score, with the two picking up an immediate relationship on the pitch.

Both players are having successful spells so far and a lot of that is due to them making solid relationships with their fellow attackers at their new clubs.

Amorim is missing that connection at United

That is something missing at Old Trafford at the moment under Amorim, with the attacking players rarely seeming to be on the exact same wavelength.

There are few natural relationships within the United attack and even Bruno Fernandes, who is one of the best creative midfielders in Europe, does not see, to have a telepathic connection with any of his teammates.

Rashford and Fernandes were the closest United had to that before the 27-year-old departed on loan. They previously spoke to media outlets about the fact they often knew what each other would be doing on the pitch.

Amorim would have been happy to see his team score seven in two games after goalscoring troubles beforehand, but in order to make his team a consistent goalscoring threat, those forward players need to develop better relationships with each other.

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We are seeing how much those simple connections can help with Antony and Rashford right now.

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