9 months ago
88
MARCUS RASHFORD insists he has learned from each of his Manchester United managers – but he insists that Erik ten Hag’s is the “toughest” regime.
The Dutch manager took charge of the Red Devils last summer and led them back into the Champions League as well as winning the Carabao Cup in his first season.
APHis arrival also coincided with Rashford’s stunning return to form as he bagged 30 goals in 56 games.
That was enough to land the 25-year-old forward a new £325,000-a-week five-year contract worth a staggering £84m.
Now Rashford, who also revealed that he is targeting 40 goals this term, has lifted the lid on the intense Ten Hag’s approach has had on the United squad.
Speaking to United legend Gary Neville on The Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet, he said: “When Erik ten Hag came in, I didn’t hear him speak about getting into the top four once, he just wanted to win trophies and he’s got that mentality. It didn’t matter what competition we were playing in, he wanted to try and win everything.
“We gave it everything and let ourselves down in the Europa League, and in the Premier League there was a period where we weren’t defending as well and stopped scoring as many goals as we were – that’s something he’ll want to address.
“We’d always bounce back from disappointing results, there is no lower point than when you go to rival teams and concede four, five, six goals, you have to find the positives, and in the games after, we always had a good performance and won.
“Sometimes as players, you don’t want to watch [poor matches], but his understanding of players is very high. I don’t want to watch any bad games back – what’s the point? There’s nothing you can take from that, but the next game is important to clear your head because you can’t let that blow.
“Especially after the Liverpool game [7-0 loss], we had Real Sociedad at home in the next game – we had a great performance and won 4-1. It’s not easy to recover, but he would always give us confidence again and remind us that we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t good players.”
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He continued: “I’m not one to need that all the time, but there are times after games like that where you need a reminder – he always gives us that full confidence and support.
“In the end, we fell short in the league – I was disappointed with how we finished the league campaign because I feel we could’ve put a bit more pressure on Arsenal and Manchester City, and in the end, there was a 15-point gap.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, but we managed to get a trophy over the line – which is always important, not only for the players but for the fans and culture of Manchester United.
“It’s always been about winning trophies, and it’s good to get back to that, because it’s been a few years since we had.”
Rashford then revealed how Ten Hag drills the squad for the upcoming campaign in pre-season, saying: “Erik’s pre-season is one of the toughest, running wise but we also do a lot of passing drills and it’s a lot of mental concentration and when you’re already physically tired, it’s difficult to concentrate for long periods of time.
“We usually do ball work in between, so we’ll do a technical 20–30-minute session, and then we’ll go into maybe 8 or 10 blocks of box to boxes or shorter intensity runs, and then we’ll go back into technical stuff.
“It’s not actually a tough session, but when you do it in the heat of the places that we’re training in, it’s challenging. But I’ve enjoyed it, I turned up to pre-season in good shape.”
After years of big-money signings failing to hit top form under an array of managers from Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and even ex-interim boss Ralf Rangnick, Rashford now says Ten Hag has managed to get everyone on the same page.
He explained: “It’s a blow when you lose any player because the whole squad is the strength, not just the starting eleven. I remember a couple players got injured against Reading in the cup and it puts everyone down.
“Donny [van der Beek] was out for a long time after that, Christian [Eriksen] was out for a little bit and the game was already won when these injures happened.
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“It’s not just the players that are playing every week, it’s the squad – Erik really concentrated on making everyone together as one, when he came in.
“It’s impossible for everyone to play every game but as a player you have to accept and support when you’re not playing, and when you are playing, you have to give everything.”
Rashford has lifted the League Cup twice, the FA Cup and the Europa League since his famous debut in 2016 against Midtjylland.
Now he believes they are on the verge of challenging the big guns for the game’s top honours once again.
Rashford added: “It’s been tough but I’ve honestly enjoyed working under the different managers because I’ve been able to take a little bit from each manager, and it’s helped me mature. There are things I’ve taken from each manager which has helped me shape my game to where it is now.
“Hopefully we do get that stability now and can go on to challenge and win the biggest trophies.”
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