After Erik ten Hag finished his first week of preseason practice as the new Old Trafford manager, Marcus Rashford is aiming for a quick start to Manchester United’s Premier League campaign.
Injuries hampered Rashford last season, and he was frequently benched by interim manager Ralf Rangnick. It was his worst year wearing a Manchester United jersey. As if not enough, the 24-year-old was also benched from Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
But currently, the striker now heads back to Manchester in an effort to regain the form that helped him establish himself as one of the continent’s most promising young players.
Last week, when Ten Hag began his new reign in the Old Trafford hot seat, Rashford and a plethora of United players who had not been chosen for post-season international fixtures returned for pre-season training.
Rashford said “We have that feeling of enthusiasm and that energy around the training field again, so it is absolutely encouraging coming into pre-season.”
“It’s just a matter of, one, understanding the fundamentals of how Erik wants us to play and the specifics, and, two, having fun”.
“We did both in the first week of practice, and everyone is eager to go on the tour and apply what we have learned in practice to the first games,” the coach said.
The former Ajax coach was highly embraced by United supporters and, as Rashford revealed, by the players as well. The Dutchman’s innovative methods gave them something new to look forward to.
He said, “I believe for me, it is just new ideas, new strategies, and a new personality that has been introduced to the squad.”
I’m looking forward to working with him, but I also think it’s important that we give ourselves time to adjust to his demands and feel completely at ease performing them.
He wants us to accomplish that so that following his instructions would come naturally to us. We are all looking forward to the task, even though those things do take time.
After Euro 2020, Rashford underwent shoulder surgery and was expected to have a fantastic season for his childhood club.
But while United struggled to a Europa League finish and failed to win any hardware, he only managed to score four Premier League goals in 25 games, a career-low.
He believes that the club’s efforts to recover under their new management the next season will be helped by the additional benefit of a worldwide preseason tour.
Since I don’t believe I’ve had a true preseason since 2019, this is undoubtedly a good thing for me.
To be honest, I believe that having that time allowed me to refocus much more quickly than I had anticipated. I felt as though I maybe needed that time to shut off a little bit.
“When that first game does arrive, I feel prepared and focused, so it’s helpful to know you have done almost six weeks of preparation prior,” she said. It will undoubtedly be advantageous, stated Rashford.