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Marcus Rashford looks a lost soul as he fails to deliver ‘wow performance’

It was in front of Aston Villa’s famous Holte End that Marcus Rashford had convinced Thomas Tuchel that he was worth another chance with England, but back on familiar territory he missed a big opportunity to press home his bid to go to the World Cup.

Rashford was not alone in putting in a lacklustre performance against Andorra, but others have more recent credit in the bank. The Barcelona loanee needs to perform now to prove he is worthy of a place and this showing provided more questions than answers.

He has started one game for Barcelona so far, in which he was substituted at half-time. A run-out at Villa Park, where he caught Tuchel’s eye on loan at Villa last season, should have been the perfect environment for him to dazzle. But, instead, he disappeared.

England’s head coach acknowledged that Rashford is yet to provide the wow-factor for him, but insisted he had earned his place.

“He struggles a bit with numbers and with the ‘wow’ performance in an England shirt, I agree,” said Tuchel. “But as long as he trains like he did and behaves and is active and alive in the group, then we will always trust him and push him and support him.

“I can see that he tries, this is for me the most important that he stays positive and he trains at the moment with the right attitude, with a smile and with a lot of quality.”

Rashford terrified Paris St-Germain and Chelsea defenders at Villa Park last season, but could not lay a glove on the spirited Andorrans for England. Tuchel will have hoped to see him race past his marker, get balls into the box and cut in to get shots away. Instead, he lost the ball, passed backwards and curled his one chance wide.

A penny for the thoughts of another former Villa player, Jack Grealish, who might have been watching from home. Grealish has started three successive games on loan at Everton, delivering four assists, and shone under interim England manager Lee Carsley.

Jack Grealish dribbles and crosses against Brighton

Jack Grealish has got his mojo back on Everton’s left wing - PA/Nick Potts

Grealish is full of confidence again and has got his old swagger back. There were times in the second half when Rashford looked like a lost soul as he waited for the ball on the left touchline. There was certainly no air of assurance in anything he did.

Rashford has now started three England games for Tuchel and been substituted in each of them, this time being replaced by Anthony Gordon in the 68th minute. It was shortly before he was taken off, with Gordon getting ready to go on, that he finally tried to burst into the box but was easily tackled by Joan Cervos.

Maybe he just needs a goal to reignite his England career – it is almost two years since he scored in an international. His big chance against Andorra came in the 50th minute, when Eberechi Eze had a shot saved and Rashford was left with the opportunity to curl the rebound into the net. He tried to do just that, but missed the target.

Rashford looks in good shape, but there are already doubts over how many games he will start at Barcelona. Maybe he would be better used as an impact substitute by Tuchel, when he might have the chance to run at tired full-backs.

It could also be that Rashford no longer suits playing as a left winger. He was originally signed to fill that role on loan at Villa, but Unai Emery quickly decided that he was better used as the solitary striker with a licence to pull wide.