There is a common misconception, largely created by lazy pundits, that Marcus Rashford didn’t receive enough game-time from Jose Mourinho last season. In truth, the Manchester United youngster made a whopping 53 appearances across all competitions and picked up the most Premier League minutes, 1703, of any teenager.

He also featured five times for England at senior or U21 level, without including his involvement in the European Championship prior to the 2016/17 campaign kicking off.

Indeed, Rashford has been a busy boy over the last year and understandably so; as an exceptionally quick, exceptionally positive, home-grown attacking player, his services are naturally in demand from both Mourinho and Gareth Southgate – but particularly the latter.

While Mourinho has a like-minded alternative in Anthony Martial to turn to, Rashford has already become a near-indispensable figure for this underwhelming England side: dangerous, confident and capable of lifting ever-disillusioned fans off their seats with rare glimpses of fluid ingenuity.

That was very much the case on Thursday when Rashford proved one of the rare few threats to a well-organised Slovenia defence, almost lobbing Jan Oblak early in the second half, and again last night when Southgate’s side travelled to Lithuania.

The only goal was provided by a Harry Kane penalty in another dull affair, but the 19-year-old continued to pepper the game with rare instances of quality – recording the most created chances and the most dribbles of any player on the pitch despite being subbed off in the 71st minute.

While most England fans will be pleased to see a young and hugely promising attacking player performing well for his country – the Three Lions certainly need a few more of those – there are negative consequences of Southgate’s sudden dependency on the forward, especially as Rashford has made 15 appearances already this season. In spite of last season’s recurring fallacy, that’s a lot of game-time for a teenager plying his trade at the highest level, featuring regularly in the top flight, the Champions League and senior internationals.

With the careers of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, two players whose peaks were shortened by excessive exposure in their younger years, lingering in the background, Southgate and Mourinho must share the responsibility for protecting a young talent who has the potential to become one of the best in the world.

England’s new-found dependency on Rashford may give a glimmer of hope ahead of the next World Cup, but it won’t last until the next one if the teenager is burnt out by the time he reaches his mid-twenties.

As things stand, the vacant Everton job is the best any British manager can hope for – and that looks set to be the status quo for some time. Perhaps stressed relationships in the Chelsea camp will see Antonio Conte depart before next season, perhaps another non-top four finish will convince Arsene Wenger to step down at Arsenal. But both clubs would break a twenty-year habit if they replaced them with British successors while only catastrophe would see any of the remaining big six part with their current gaffers, who are all amongst the very best in the business.

Of course, this problem is nothing new. Since 2012, David Moyes and Brendan Rodgers are the only British managers to be permanently employed by the big six and the former’s tenure at Manchester United didn’t even last a whole season, whereas the latter was sharply ousted the moment results soured and a more exciting counterpart from abroad became available. There is quite simply a glass ceiling for Brits seeking employment at the top end of the Premier League, and a stigma attached to them.

The common counter-argument is that British managers are unfairly pigeonholed as little more than relegation experts, using prehistoric tactics to grind out results and unfamiliar with the sensitive nuances of working with the best players in the world. It’s certainly true that British managers don’t get the chances to prove their ideas aren’t outdated and that they can deliver entertaining football when provided with entertaining players. But perhaps there’s a good reason for that.

Enter Mark Hughes – a British manager who, at the age of 53, possesses all the attributes in theory to rise to the very top of a multi-cultural Premier League. A playing career took him from Manchester United to Barcelona and Bayern Munich and eventually Blackburn Rovers. That holistic journey of not only differing tiers of English football but also the continent should leave him with fantastic all-round knowledge of the game, the kind needed to effectively integrate foreign talents with the British style and the kind to be successful at a top club. He’s vastly experienced too – in fact, Hughes was already managing the Wales national team before hanging up his boots in 2002 and has already overseen a whopping 570 games from the dugout.

And yet, Hughes’ managerial career has been laden with mediocrity. For none of his six employers to date has he generated a win-rate of 50% or greater and his 13 years in the management business are yet to yield a trophy. In fact, he’s won the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award just once during that period, let alone a Manager of the Year accolade, and his best finish in the top flight was over a decade ago, when he unexpectedly guided Blackburn Rovers to 6th place back in 2005/06.

At first glance, it would seem the same confines apply – Hughes has only ever been employed by team that were mid-table or lower at the time, despite his association with three of the greatest clubs in the game today. But in truth, the Welshman has been given every chance to break that mould, to prove British managers understand foreign players and foreign ideals and use them to create an exciting brand of football, and he’s simply failed to take them.

The most obvious example is Manchester City. Hughes always worked under the cloud of never being the owners’ man, having been appointed just a month before the Sheik takeover in 2008, but he made glaringly little progress with the vast talent made available to him, an illustrious list including the likes of Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Nigel De Jong, Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure. The best he could manage with that cohort was 9th place, followed by 10th the following season when he was relieved of his duties halfway through.

Perhaps the job was too big for him – after all, City were essentially building a footballing powerhouse from scratch – but we’ve seen a similar pattern at Stoke City where, despite significant backing from the board, Hughes has failed to get the best out of highly-talented foreign players. Four years down the line in one of the Premier League’s more ambitious vanity projects, Hughes finds himself reverting back to the tactics of a predecessor in Tony Pulis he was asked to replace largely due to style of football.

Indeed, the Potters have found themselves increasingly dependent on direct football and set piece goals over the last four seasons, averaging the least possession, producing the most long balls and scoring the fewest goals from open play under Hughes’ reign during 2016/17, while Peter Crouch’s revived importance since the start of last term has been particularly telling of how the philosophical revolution at Stoke has steadily run out of steam.

That is despite some fantastic foreign talents for a club of Stoke’s stature being at Hughes’ disposal; Bojan, Marko Arnautovic, Xherdan Shaqiri, Jese and Gianelli Imbula all offer top pedigree, the type of pedigree Hughes should be able to tap into. But Hughes has rarely got a consistent tune out of them for more than a few months at a time, both individually and collectively, and any hint of combining foreign flair with traditional British tactical ideals has steadily waned.

Of course, it would be unfair to suggest Hughes is the ultimate reason British managers don’t get chances at top clubs. Moyes and Roy Hodgson, during his Liverpool and England tenures, have only maintained the stereotypes of attritional football, outdated ideas and the inability to appeal to big-name players – the Paul Pogbas and Mesut Ozils of this world.

And yet, Hughes has been better-placed and better-equipped than anybody to dispel those myths throughout the last 13 years through experience, reputation, transfer budgets and transfer policies. While there have been brief glimpses of his ability to do so, they’ve all lacked the longevity to be truly convincing. And if someone like Hughes, a former Barcelona and Bayern Munich forward, can’t find success at a big club or consistent results using foreign talent, what chance does someone like Sean Dyche have?

Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez has revealed that full-back Paul Dummett is closing on a return to action.

The Magpies have been without the services of Dummett since he limped out of the clash with Tottenham Hotspur on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

It had been thought that the left-back would miss just two weeks of football, but a hamstring problem is still keeping the popular defender, who is valued at £3.1m by transfermarkt.co.uk, on the sidelines as we approach the latter stages of 2017.

Benitez, speaking ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth, confirmed that the 26-year-old was on the road to recovery, and would soon join full-contact training with the rest of his teammates.

Benitez told reporters:

“We have Paul Dummett training but not with the team yet. He is getting closer.”

After coming through the youth system at Newcastle, Dummett has made more than 120 appearances for the Magpies, and played all but one of their Championship matches during the 2016-17 campaign.

A total of 14 points from 10 matches has left Benitez’s side in ninth position in the Premier League table.

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West Ham United have had a turbulent season so far, which has included a managerial shift.

David Moyes took over from Slaven Bilic earlier this month and has so far overseen two matches.

The Scotsman – who had failed spells at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland – has recorded one defeat and one draw in the Premier League.

Friday night marked Moyes’s first home game as the team hosted Leicester City at the London Stadium and it was a poor start for the Hammers.

Marc Albrighton put the 2015-16 league champions ahead after eight minutes, but Cheikhou Kouyate later responded with an equaliser.

Neither side could find the winner before the final whistle, which means that West Ham sit one point from safety after 13 games.

Pablo Zabaleta, who joined the East London outfit on a free transfer from Manchester City in the summer, has paid credit to the fans.

While speaking to the club’s official website, the full-back said:

“We must say ‘Thank you’ to the fans because they were incredible and brilliant during the whole game. We know that they probably want to see the team in a better place in the table, I know that, but at least we tried to win the game. They saw the team with a different attitude and, as I said, they were incredible, so thank you for the great support.”

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is known to launch some subtle jibes at his opponents via the media.

This week, the Portuguese coach reminded Liverpool fans of their team’s recent fumble in the Champions League.

Last week, Jurgen Klopp’s men took on Sevilla in a clash that could have sent the Reds into the last 16 of the competition.

The team stormed to a 3-0 lead inside the first 30 minutes, but in the second half they crumbled as their Spanish opponents nabbed a 3-3 draw.

On Tuesday night, United took on Watford at Vicarage Road in the Premier League and they found themselves in a similar predicament.

The Red Devils took a thee-goal lead and inside the final 20 minutes, nerves jangled as the Hornets pulled two goals back to make it 3-2.

Before the final whistle, though, Jesse Lingard wrapped up victory for the visitors with an impressive goal.

After the match, Mourinho carried out his post-match media duties and aimed a subtle swipe at Liverpool’s recent result in Europe.

The Liverpool Echo quotes the manager as saying:

“Watford gave us a couple of minutes where they felt anything could happen. This is football. Last week, Borussia Dortmund-Schalke, 4-0, 4-4. A couple of weeks ago, Liverpool (at Sevilla), 3-0, 3-3. That’s football.”

Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman has suggested that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will be the happier coach heading into this Sunday’s derby against Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho will have to take on the Premier League leaders without Paul Pogba due to the Frenchman’s suspension.

The £89m midfielder was handed a straight red card when he caught the back of Hector Bellerin’s leg with his studs during Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates.

Pogba’s absence during his spell on the sidelines with injury was heavily felt by United, so losing the former Juventus star for a hugely important game is less than ideal.

City are yet to be beaten in all competitions this season and they currently have an eight-point lead over their neighbours in the league table.

If Guardiola’s side win at the weekend, then City will pull away with an 11-point advantage.

While speaking to Sky Sports, Osman gave his verdict on Pogba’s ban.

“He [Pogba] is the key to Manchester United’s style of play. The size of Manchester United, not many players can take the team on their shoulders and he’s come back and done that. He’s been the driving force behind that team. To miss him will be huge. Pep Guardiola will be delighted.”

Judging by the media reports in recent weeks, anyone would be forgiven for believing that Xherdan Shaqiri will be Liverpool’s next signing.

Of course, that could end up being the case, but the Liverpool Echo reported on Thursday evening that the Reds are yet to make an official approach for the Stoke City winger.

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There is expected to be a scramble for the Switzerland international’s signature due to a release clause that makes him available for around £13.5m, according to the Merseyside publication.

With that being said, if Jurgen Klopp wants Shaqiri to be part of his squad this season then the club should move swiftly.

Who do you think will win the World Cup? Let us know here and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

Now that Switzerland are no longer in the World Cup, the winger is expected to focus on his future, and it is unlikely to be with the Potters considering that they were relegated from the Premier League last season.

Shaqiri may not be a marquee signing for Liverpool, but he would certainly be another option to use, possibly off the bench, in attack.

In order for the Reds to cope with the demands of the campaign, they require strength in depth, and the Swiss winger would provide that.

This latest news about the 26-year-old, who scored eight goals and created seven assists in 36 league outings for Stoke last season, has sparked a discussion among Liverpool fans on Reddit.

Comment from discussion Liverpool retain an interest in Xherdan Shaqiri – but they have yet to make an official approach for the Stoke City winger.- James Pearce.Comment from discussion Liverpool retain an interest in Xherdan Shaqiri – but they have yet to make an official approach for the Stoke City winger.- James Pearce.Comment from discussion Liverpool retain an interest in Xherdan Shaqiri – but they have yet to make an official approach for the Stoke City winger.- James Pearce.Comment from discussion Liverpool retain an interest in Xherdan Shaqiri – but they have yet to make an official approach for the Stoke City winger.- James Pearce.Comment from discussion Liverpool retain an interest in Xherdan Shaqiri – but they have yet to make an official approach for the Stoke City winger.- James Pearce.Comment from discussion Liverpool retain an interest in Xherdan Shaqiri – but they have yet to make an official approach for the Stoke City winger.- James Pearce.

Rangers fans are getting excited about the latest transfer news, as reports suggest they have made a bid for Championship defender Jake Cooper.

According to The Daily Record, the Gers have submitted an official bid of around £3m for Millwall’s Cooper, after the young defender made 38 Championship appearances last season.

The 23 year-old could become Steven Gerrard’s tenth summer signing, after young stars Umar Sadiq and Lassana Coulibaly joined on season-long loans on Tuesday.

Cooper, who started his career at Reading and has developed quite the reputation for scoring goals from the back, has two years left on his contract at The Den.

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The 6 ft 5 defender scored four times in the Championship last season, and he averaged one goal about every ten league games during his time at Reading.

He is a no nonsense defender that loves getting up and challenging for the ball, and fans will adore his fight and tenaciousness.

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There is plenty of excitement on social media about the £3m bid, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

At last, every Premier League club has either officially revealed the identity of their new home shirt or a pretty accurate ‘leaked’ image floating about on the internet.

Brighton were the last to get theirs in, just three months after Liverpool were the first to give us a glimpse of what we can expect to seem them wearing when they revealed their home strip before the final game of last season. Remember when all the clubs did that? Those were the days.

So now the Seagulls have woken up and joined the party, it’s time we got down to business and ranked all 20. The results you’ll find here aren’t the work of just me and me alone, it’s the work of the entire Football FanCast team.

Everyone ranked each shirt from one to 20 and then, using a unique scoring system, I tallied all the votes up to conclude the results of our very first Premier League Home Shirt Power Rankings.

You’re probably going to hate us now but that’s ok, no one really likes us anyway…

Tottenham fans won’t be used to seeing themselves ranked bottom in this kind of thing – they’re home shirts are normally pretty smart – they’ve won MirrorFootball’s last two Football Shirt Power Rankings. This year’s is absolutely hideous, though. What is that monstrosity at the bottom?

Any Spurs fan that tells you they like it is lying through their teeth. Daniel Levy didn’t throw £1billion at a brand new stadium for this!

Burnley’s shirts always seem to look exactly the same every season. This time, though, it has been completely ruined by a sponsor nobody’s ever heard of.

Does the poker chip really need to be that big? Fair to say Steven Defour’s poker face isn’t too convincing either – just look at the disgust in his eyes.

So this wasn’t my doing as I think Cardiff’s strip is a pretty smart, although my colleagues clearly don’t agree.

Nevertheless, there’s a distinct lack of creativity going on here and you can see why it hasn’t impressed.

At least it’s no longer red.

It’s basically Tottenham’s car crash of a shirt but in red and black. But wait a minute, they’re made by rival manufacturers. Adidas and Nike have had a mare here. That shouldn’t happen, that just shouldn’t happen.

All of the above Old Trafford stars are clearly in agreement. It’s horrid and well deserving of such a low rank.

I’ve always thought Southampton shirts can only ever be attractive to actual Saints supporters. They’re just… meh!

But this one isn’t too bad, to be honest. The collar’s a bit rogue and Richard Branson could do with toning down his role in the whole thing, but it’s an alright shirt for an alright club.

It’s just really, really boring. Just looking at it makes me want to take a nap.

No disrespect to Brighton but they waited so long to reveal this, only for it to look like that. If I was a Brighton fan I’d be livid.

“You kept us waiting all that time for that,” I would say, before falling asleep. Thankfully, I’m not a Brighton fan.

Strive to be better, Brighton. Strive to be better.

Crystal Palace’s effort isn’t the worst in the world but I’m still waiting for them to mix it up one year. They’re always very similar, with the red and blue stripes and all that.

Nothing much changes, and that’s a problem for me. I think 14th might be a tad harsh, but it’s not exactly the nicest shirt and would’ve looked a little out of place if it were any higher.

I quite like this. It’s simple, smart and minimalistic. The button-up collar is a lovely touch – you can’t beat a button-up collar on a football shirt – and the shirt sponsor isn’t trying to make it all about them, unlike Burnley’s.

But for some reason no one here at FFC towers is that impressed with it, hence the average ranking.

At first glance, this is a beautiful shirt but it very quickly becomes just nice after looking for a while.

I’m a big fan of their new crest and the fact they haven’t tried to be fancy with the stripes this year is a big plus. The collar suits the design too, which adds some extra niceness to the whole thing.

All-in-all it’s a pretty impressive effort from Huddersfield this year – certainly fit for the Premier League.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for their away and alternative shirts. More on those at a later date.

Once again, the collar gives the shirt a lot more class than it perhaps should have. Other than that, there’s not much to love or hate about Man City’s new home kit.

Aside from the design on the sleeves it’s essentially the same kit they wore last year. No creativity here, which isn’t what we’d expect from the Premier League champions. Boo.

I can’t muster up any kind of opinion for Leicester’s shirt this year so I asked our assistant editor, Christy Malyan, what he thought.

He said: “I think it looks too much like a box. You know, like you’re wearing a blue box?”

Sensational. Remember, you can read a lot more of Christy’s cutting edge opinion every day here on FootballFanCast.com.

“It looks awful, like a Wetherspoon’s carpet,” says Jonathan Gorrie, one of our editors.

That’s a little harsh. I think it looks too much like a training top, but it’s certainly not as bad as Jonnie makes it out to be. Ninth is probably about right.

Doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing Eden Hazard knocking about in it this season, either.

Black and red is a pretty strong combination if you’re going to have stripes, and Bournemouth have executed it perfectly with this one.

The gold stripe on the collar is a lovely touch, as are the black sleeves that break up the body of the shirt wonderfully. Fair play to Bournemouth, it’s a solid shirt.

Newcastle always do the whole black and white stripes thing pretty well and this season’s continues that trend.

Opting for a white collar instead of black is an intriguing decision but new signing Ki Sung-yeung clearly thinks it works. Just look at his face!

It’s bold decisions like that that earn you better marks in the power rankings and Mike Ashley’s gamble has paid off well here.

“It’s not a Watford shirt but it’s not a bad shirt.”

That’s the opinion of one of our newest members of the team – Will Jones.

I disagree. I think it’s awful and a disgraceful attempt at trying to look a little bit like Fenerbahce. But the people have spoken and Watford have sneaked in to the top six. Ludicrous.

Now this is a proper, retro-looking football shirt.

What’s not to like about this? The collar is smart, it’s not unnecessarily tight, there’s no horrid looking patterns knocking about and the shade of red really brings out Sadio Mane’s eyes.

A real classic that probably should be ranked higher.

There’s nothing I love about this shirt other than the fact it genuinely finished 4th. Typical Arsenal.

Our social media editor, Olly Huddlestone, approves: “I like it. No idea why they’ve got Alex Iwobi modelling it though. As far as Puma kits go it’s got its own style compared to others that tend to follow a template. I like that.”

Poor Alex.

Fulham have marked their long-awaited return to the Premier League with a wonderful looking number that’s certainly fit for the top-flight.

The black hoop ensures the sponsor isn’t too imposing and leaves the rest of the shirt to glisten with beauty. It’s classically simple, yet stylish.

West Ham fans will have wanted to see a bit more blue on this one but there’s nothing you can’t like about this wonderful looking Umbro edition.

They’ve opted for a full claret shirt this term, moving away from their traditional sky blue sleeves, and it works well. The round-neck collar finishes it off nicely.

It’s charming, much like new Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini.

It’s a wonderful looking shirt that probably would’ve been ranked 1st if it wasn’t for the next exceptional addition to the Premier League…

Stop what you’re doing and spend five minutes worshipping this masterpiece.

It’s gold, not yellow or off-brown, which Wolves fans are delighted about, and it looks absolutely sensational.

Wolves’ home shirt ran away with it in our rankings, finishing well ahead of the Hammers in second.

Even the sponsor, which is probably a little bit too big, works pretty well with the rest of the design.

It’s a classic design and that’s what essentially won the hearts of everyone here at FFC towers. A worthy winner.

Keep an eye out for our 18/19 Premier League away shirt Power Rankings later this week!

The Chronicle has reported that Newcastle are interested in Liverpool striker Divock Origi, but Spurs should be targetting him as back up to Harry Kane to offer them a perfect plan B.

What’s the story?

Valued at £9m by Transfermarkt, Origi spent last season on loan with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg and Rafa Benitez is hoping his former club will offer the Magpies a similar deal this summer.

Newcastle are in the market for one or two strikers to replace the potential outgoing of Aleksandar Mitrovic to Fulham, and have targetted Origi and West Brom man Salomon Rondon in recent weeks.

However, if Origi is to leave Liverpool this summer then Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham should test the Anfield side’s resolve with a bid for a permanent deal after recent signings to act as back up for Harry Kane have all flopped.

Plan B

Last season, Origi scored seven goals and provided three assists during his loan spell at Wolfsburg which started with promise but tailed off after a change in management at the Bundesliga club. The 23-year-old also has an impressive scoring record with Liverpool having netted 21 goals in 77 appearances, with over half of these coming as a substitute, since his permanent move from from Lille in 2015.

In recent years Tottenham have made a number of attempts to provide back up to Harry Kane. Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente are both strikers of a similar mould, as is Roberto Soldado who’s Spurs career failed to get off the ground just as Kane was emerging after his loan spells.

Perhaps it is time for Pochettino to take a different approach to a plan B at White Hart Lane, by signing the powerful and pacy Belgian striker from Premier League rivals Liverpool. After Kane’s exertions at the World Cup this summer he will be in a race to get fit for the start of the season and Spurs will need back up. They also need a different option to avoid becoming too predictable and Origi’s ability to run in-behind and stretch defences would certainly provide that.

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