Training ground secrets behind red-hot Marcus Rashford's Man Utd resurgence

07 January 2023 , 18:00

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Training ground secrets behind red-hot Marcus Rashford's Man Utd resurgence

Erik ten Hag reckons Marcus Rashford’s red-hot scoring streak is down to the hard work the England striker is putting in on the training ground.

Rashford has scored in five successive games and has found the next in seven home games on the bounce after scoring the late penalty against Everton on Friday night that confirmed Manchester United's passage into the fourth round of the FA Cup. That’s despite the striker facing the Dutchman’s wrath last weekend, when he was dropped to the bench for disciplinary reasons at Wolves before coming on to grab United’s opener in a 2-0 win.

Ten Hag has been impressed with Rashford’s dedication in training at Carrington - and revealed that the 25-year-old has been working hard on his heading in a bid to become a better all-round finisher.

Ten Hag said: “I see technical class every day with Marcus Rashford. He impressed me from the first training session.

“In the penalty area, every shot goes between the posts and is hard and pure. Everything is of such high quality - and always at pace.

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“Of course, you start working with such a player to see where the biggest improvement can be. With Marcus, for example, that's his heading game, which wasn't really top-notch yet.

Marcus Rashford of Manchester United celebrates after scoring against Bournemouth (Getty Images)

“We touched on that and started working on it with assistant coach Benni McCarthy. So it was great to see Marcus score against West Ham with a header. That was a great moment because then you see that there’s been an improvement by paying attention to it.

“That was all to Rashford's own credit because he was very focused on getting better.

“After every training session, he wants to work on his finishing, with the right foot, with the left foot, from different angles and from crosses.”

Rashford’s form has taken him to the top of the goalscoring charts at Old Trafford and has made sure Cristiano Ronaldo has not been missed following his shock departure.

Simon Mullock