“He has almost everything a modern striker needs” - Ralf Rangnick suggests Manchester United star has grown in confidence in recent weeks

Ralf Rangnick was all praise for Manchester United's Marcus Rashford after his recent goal.
Ralf Rangnick was all praise for Manchester United's Marcus Rashford after his recent goal.

Ralf Rangnick was all praise for Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford after the striker scored a late winner in the recent EPL clash against West Ham United.

Manchester United took on David Moyes’s West Ham for the third time this season with fourth place at stake. They managed a 2-1 win in the EPL clash at the London Stadium in September but were knocked out of the EFL cup after losing 1-0 a few days later.

At Old Trafford, West Ham United again proved to be tough nuts to crack and produced a well-drilled defensive performance. The Hammers even had multiple chances to go ahead despite Manchester United dominating most possession for most of the game. Marcus Rashford came on for youngster Anthony Elanga in the 62nd minute and scored the winner in the last minute of injury time.

With this being his second goal in two games as a substitute, Ralf Rangnick praised the attacker and claimed that the 24-year old is one of the best strikers in England:

"He’s one of the top strikers in England. He’s an English international, who regularly played in the Euros and we all know what quality he has. He has almost everything a modern striker needs. He’s got the pace, skills, he’s got the size and physicality of a striker and in the end it’s all about confidence for strikers."

He added:

“I’m pretty sure that those two goals have raised the level of confidence within Marcus but now it’s about taking steps, to show that on a regular basis. It’s about continuity now and I think he can play a very important role for the rest of the season for us.”

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford looks to have turned a corner after dreadful few months

Marcus Rashford has long been seen as the future of Manchester United, a talisman of sorts. However, his recent on-field performances have attracted a fair share of criticism in recent months.

Rashford started the season brightly, scoring thrice in his first four appearances of the season. However, he has looked comprehensively slower this season and shown a reluctance to take on defenders, something which formed a major part of his overall game.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was arguably guilty of providing consistent starts to the striker despite Rashford looking out of form consistently. Rangnick stuck with the striker for his first three EPL matches in charge but has since used the striker sparingly.

Under Solskjaer, Marcus Rashford was rumored to have grown disillusioned with his role in the team as the striker was asked to play in multiple positions in attack. In recent matches, he has been deployed as a striker and has slowly found his feet.

He produced his best performance of the season so far against West Ham united. Rashford’s arrival resulted in an immediate shift of gear for Manchester United as the striker did not leave any opportunity to run at defenders. He was eventually rewarded with a late, late goal and will now be looking to continue in the same vein in the coming time.

Quick Links

Edited by Arnav Kholkar