Former Premier League player-turned-pundit Robbie Earle believes that a particular piece of man management from Erik ten Hag earlier this month evidenced that the manager and Marcus Rashford have "almost a mutual respect" for each other that is getting the best out of the striker.
Rashford, 25, already at this relatively early stage of the season has scored more goals than in the entirety of any other campaign since breaking into the first team as an 18-year-old. The player's two goals against Leicester City at Old Trafford were his 23rd and 24th across all competitions.
First-team coach Benni McCarthy is another who has been credited with helping Rashford flourish since arriving as the club's new “specific scoring trainer“ in Ten Hag's coaching team. Earle and former United goalkeeper Tim Howard believe that the manager also deserves praise.
READ MORE: Ten Hag has shown where he disagrees with Sir Alex Ferguson
“Everybody will tell you (about) Marcus Rashford (that) there’s a great footballer inside of him (but) we haven’t always seen it,“ Earle said on NBC Sports' Premier League Mornings programme. “(Ten Hag) is starting to get the best (out) of him. There was a great shot last week at Leeds (United) when he had his arm around Rashford, and they were talking as they were coming off. That’s almost a mutual respect between the manager and the player.“
Earle also earlier in the segment said: "Ten Hag's now got a structure that benefits the individuals, and one of those individuals is Marcus Rashford. This is the hottest form he’s ever been in; he's probably the hottest striker in the Premier League right now in terms of his goal return and play.
“I heard an interview where (Ten Hag) said: ’I’ve made (Rashford) happy; I’m making him smile.’ He said: ’The weather’s good, it’s always sunshine.’ Maybe not so, it’s Manchester, but he’s got a way of saying ‘people work better when they’re happy’, and we’re seeing a happy Marcus Rashford.“
Howard was also in agreement, adding: “What we’re seeing is him almost attacking defenders with reckless abandon. ‘If I lose it, I lose it, no problem. No one is going to yell at me. No one is going to throw their arms up at me.’
“That’s the point about getting your arm around him and giving him confidence so that he knows ‘I can go out there and fail’. It's because of that confidence he’s succeeding.“
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