Andy Cole believes heightened confidence has been the major player in Marcus Rashford's brilliant Manchester United form.
Rashford failed to score for the first time since the World Cup during Wednesday's 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, his eight goals in seven games prior almost single-handedly propelling United into a title race. The 25-year-old's dramatic winner in last Saturday's Manchester derby saw him equal Dennis Viollet's 64-year record of having scored in nine consecutive home matches.
The summer arrival of Erik ten Hag has seen Rashford transformed, the England international's form a far-cry from the run of 15 games without a goal that saw him majorly criticised at the end of last season. Many factors will have played their part in facilitating the forward's improvement - not least a direct playing-style that suits him and an upturn in form throughout the squad - but former United striker Cole believes the deciding factor is much more simple.
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"Confidence," Cole told Betway when asked what has changed with Rashford. "The more goals you score, the better you become. Obviously whatever he did in pre-season is benefitting him now. The manager sat him down, gave him some belief and is getting his rewards.
"Football is all about confidence. People can say it’s about anything else but if you’re not sure about yourself and your ability you can’t perform. Last season, everyone was talking about why he’s not developing into the player we thought he could be. Suddenly now, I’m seeing comparisons to Thierry Henry. The only thing that can change so quickly is how you’re feeling about your game.
"I can relate to that as a forward. When you’re short on confidence, you don’t go looking for chances. For me, watching Marcus before this season, he never ran into the box. He was never there to finish a tap-in from a cutback. Suddenly, against Man City on Saturday, he’s there, six yards out, to score the winner. I think last season he might not have made that run because he was too worried about missing. I guarantee if he does that in every game, he’ll always score. Those cutbacks are always there."
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