Marcus Rashford has only scored 8 goals last season, 7 of which came from the Premier League, where he has played 33 times (26 starts). Throughout the 2023-2024 campaign, despite his very poor form, the English striker has always been trusted by Erik ten Hag and his team.
That trust in Ten Hag once created a wave of fierce opposition from fans. In the context of some other wingers such as Alejandro Garnacho or Amad Diallo being more active, Ten Hag still put his trust in Marcus Rashford. The Dutch coach has his reasons because if Rashford can repeat his form after the 2022 World Cup, Man United will hardly get bored of any opponents in domestic leagues.
Since his debut for the first team of Man United, Rashford has played 402 matches and scored 131 goals. Under Ten Hag, the 26-year-old star has scored 30 goals. In terms of expectations, the English striker is playing below the threshold. He needs to score more goals because this is the most mature period of his career.
To further strengthen his confidence in Rashford, Ten Hag has invited a former famous "Red Devils" Ruud van Nistelrooy to join the coaching staff. In his days of service to Man United, the Dutch superstar striker has scored 150 goals in just 219 appearances. With Van Nistelrooy on the training ground, Ten Hag believes his players' finishing will improve.
"The reason Van Nistelrooy is here is very clear, he will help the club's strikers. However, I expect Van Nistelrooy to do more than that.
In Rashford's case, this is a good opportunity for him to prove his ability. Rashford is a capable player, having scored many goals as a young player. I 100% believe Rashford can recreate his form from 2 years ago" - Ten Hag said at a press conference in the US during the 2024 summer tour.
The fact that he has not added a winger so far shows that Ten Hag has full confidence in the current factors, especially Marcus Rashford. This is a risk for the Dutch captain because if Rashford plays poorly again, he will not find any other star who can shoulder the responsibility in the wing. Garnacho and Amad are not good enough and Antony is too bad.
Understanding that, after a summer without being called up to the England squad for EURO 2024, Rashford spent most of his time on the training ground and was very approved by Ten Hag in terms of attitude. Having been involved in many rumors of leaving Old Trafford in the past 2 years, Rashford chose to stay. Therefore, he needs to prove his ability if he does not want next summer to be the time to wrap up and leave where he is.
"We are facing a very exciting new season, everything in the past has been left behind.
Everything is going quite well, it's true to the club project he is pursuing. Then there will be ups and downs but the whole team is full of energy. We have good spirit, excitement, want to fight and win" - Ten Hag shared.
