On the face of it, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are keeping themselves busy and contributing well to Manchester United's season.
Rashford and Martial have often been left to scrap for one starting position but the eventual emergence of Jesse Lingard and the arrival of Alexis Sanchez has seen them shunted back.
With United's season approaching the finishing straight, here are the contributions from 22-year-old Martial and his younger [20] teammate:
- Martial - 40 games (24 starts), 9 goals, 7 assists
- Rashford - 43 games, (22 starts), 12 goals, 6 assists
While they are securing game-time, between the league and Champions League the forwards have only started a combined total of 37 games. Romelu Lukaku, on his own, has 39 starts across those two competitions.
Every time Rashford or Martial seem to hit form or be verging on a run of games, Jose Mourinho pulls them back from the fray. United look set to claim second in the Premier League but were bundled out of Europe and have been accused of being too rigid and cautious in their playing style.
Some critics, such as former Everton midfielder Leon Osman, believe Mourinho will never change his ways and that Martial and Rashford would be better off elsewhere:
https://twitter.com/5liveSport/status/984185873364344833
Both men are vying for key roles in France and England's upcoming World Cup campaigns so there is further external squawking about them getting a run of starts before the summer.
Jose Mourinho was quizzed about his two young stars ahead of United's league encounter with West Brom. Rather than address the challenges and merits of either player, Mourinho opted to shut down the queries with bland responses; hoping perhaps that the journalists would move on.
Quizzed on Martial being relegated to a bench role in recent months, Mourinho said:
"If I was you I would go why Lukaku plays every match, why Matic plays every match, you always go to the one, the answer is if you want what I call dry answers, I have dry answers and a dry answer is only 11 can start the match and we are 22."
Mourinho replied, "Because I decide that way", when he was asked about Rashford being used, more often than not, off the bench in key fixtures. "If I was you I would go in another direction [with your questions]," he added. "Rashford is the player with more appearances since I arrived at the club.
Asked how difficult it is to keep a squad of top talents happy, Mourinho's response was glib.
"It is just football, we cannot have 11 players, it would be amazing economically for the football clubs to have only 11 and play with the same 11, no injuries, suspension, fatigue, it would be better for everyone to have only 11 but is not impossible.
"At every club and every level, you need more than 11 players and only 11 can start, is as simple as that, there’s nothing I can do."
There were no crumbs of comfort for either Martial or Rashford but Mourinho, others would contest, is probably best off delivering his critiques to both players in private and away from the cameras.
Having openly criticised players earlier in the season, Mourinho is holding his tongue. It is a shame that two undoubted gems like Rashford and Martial are being held back too.
The best answer Mourinho could deliver would be to go after west Brom like his side did in the second half against Manchester City in last weekend's 3-2 win. If United can cut loose more often, fans and media may not grumble as much about the personnel.
