Erik ten Hag reveals how Marcus Rashford rediscovered his best form

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has denied responsibility for Marcus Rashford’s return to form, insisting the England international deserves all the credit.

Rashford has racked up 18 goals and six assists in 29 appearances for Ten Hag’s United, taking over the goalscoring burden from Cristiano Ronaldo and re-establishing himself as a key player for both club and country.

As 90min reported back in June 2022, Ten Hag spoke with Rashford before even moving to Old Trafford to stress his desire to work with the forward and turn him into one of Europe’s finest in his position, and both are definitely reaping the rewards now.

However, Ten Hag insisted there was no magic to his methods and praised Rashford for the work put in to get to this point.

“I’m not Harry Potter!” the boss laughed. “It’s just confidence. Every player has to make and get his own confidence.

“[Rashford] fought for this, he invested in this. Of course with my coaching staff, we bring in structures, especially in the way of play that give him routines that he needs to get into the right position.

“But finally, it’s up to him, to the player, and when the player has the confidence then I’m convinced, in the way we are working – the way of play is most important but also the environment and the culture are also important – then the player can perform at his best.

“It’s obvious that Marcus at this moment is in really good shape, really good form. I think from day to day, from training to training, from game to game, the routines are coming in. The frontline now also gives me a positive feeling, it’s getting stronger as well, and then they can take more benefit from each other.

“In the first [half of the] season, for instance, we had many problems in the frontline. Often we had games where we didn’t have players who were 100% physically and mentally fit. Now that’s much more the case and Marcus can take even more benefit from such situations.

“We made a construction of the staff where all positions are covered. You need different types in the squad from a technical approach but also from let’s say a human being and personality approach.

“We tried to get the right set-up in our staff and so far I’m really happy with the coaching staff I have here at Man Utd.”