Man United can secure a Champions League spot with just one point against Chelsea and The Red Devils have gotten at least a draw in the last 12 encounters between the two clubs, which must give a bit of confidence against a Chelsea side that has disappointed a lot in this season.
Paul Parker played for both Manchester United and Chelsea, so he knows what these games are about, which is why we sat down with him to talk about the clash between two of the biggest clubs in the world.
Parker shared his thoughts on the game, just as he also gave his opinion on Marcus Rashford, who should start the game no matter what against Chelsea, even though he claims that he aint doing Man United legends any justice when playing as a centre forward.
Poor Man United faces Lampard and his desponded CV
Parker expects Man United to win against Chelsea and therefore be qualifying for the Champions League, even though he wants Man United to step up from their previous games.
“I expect Man United to win against Chelsea. They need to go for the three points and not be too tentative. Man United have won their last games but their performances have been poor over 90 minutes.”
“They have to work on their performances and it’s a great opportunity against Chelsea who has nothing to play for.”
But according to Parker there is one person that still has something to play for, as Frank Lampard definitely doesn’t want to jeopardise either his Chelsea legacy or his so called desponded CV.
“The only person at Chelsea who has something to play for is Frank Lampard because he wants to add something to his desponded CV.”
“But if Chelsea does go in and lift their performance against Man United and maybe even get one point, then we need to question the players about their lack of willingness to do it before.”
How will the game turn out? Well, according to Parker it depends on whether Man United turns up or not.
“But I can’t see Chelsea´s performance changing and the result depends on whether Man United turns up or not.”
Rashford doesn’t do Man United legends justice
Parker has previously said that Marcus Rashford might need some time on the bench, even though a potential fan backlash prevents Erik ten Hag from doing it. The former England international still isn’t impressed with the striker. But he urges Erik ten Hag to do everything to get him ready as the alternatives are even worse.
“Even if Rashford is being ill in a hospital bed, he still should be in the starting lineup against Chelsea. Not because he has been good, in fact he has been poor as I’ve said before. But what are the alternatives? Sancho, Martial.. Then I would go with someone who can knick a goal even though he isn’t contributing with anything else.”
We all remember the good old days, right? For a Man United fan the good old days might correlate with a lot of the names that Parker is mentioning below. All the names should be an inspiration for Rashford according to Parker.
“I just look at Rashford and get this feeling that he doesn’t do the former Man United strikers justice. He is nothing like what a good Man United centre forward should be like.”
“The way Man United are playing right now, they need a Mark Hughes type of striker. He would demand more from other players and to be honest, he would ruin Antony. Mark Hughes ruined Andrei Kanchelski.”
“Marcus Rashford isn’t like that… And you can’t mention him along with players like Mark Hughes, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Even Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a presence, which Rashford doesn´t have.”
Parker ends by encouraging Rashford to give his everything and demand more from his teammates.
“Everyone is talking about Marcus Rashford but what he needs to do is to demand more from his teammates. But before that happens he needs to deliver 100% and sacrifice a lot, otherwise he can’t get on people and tell them what to do.”
