Marcus Rashford insists he is enjoying the “hard work” in Manchester United ’s training sessions under boss Erik ten Hag.
The striker is enjoying somewhat of a resurgence in form this season under the new United coach and he netted his sixth goal of the campaign in United’s three-goal win over FC Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday night in the Europa League. It was a bullet header from Luke Shaw’s standing cross.
Rashford has been deployed as the main striker in Ten Hag’s 4-3-3 system and has been preferred to Cristiano Ronaldo – who has started just one of the club’s last nine Premier League matches – and Anthony Martial, who has had fitness issues this campaign preventing him from enjoying a run of games.
United’s form has been gradually improving since their disastrous opening to the campaign when they lost to both Brighton and Brentford. They are unbeaten in seven matches and have won 10 of their 14 games in all competitions since those opening setbacks.
“The manager’s a joy to work with, really,” Rashford told the PA news agency. “Is it hard work? Yeah, but I think we are enjoying it and we’re playing better football.
“I feel like when we don’t concede goals, we’ve got a good chance of winning games because we’re creating chances. We just need to finish them off, be a bit more clinical in front of goal.”
Have Your Say! How do you rate Ten Hag’s start to life as United boss? Tell us what you think here.
New signings Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Antony have all become regulars in Ten Hag’s side in a tough run of games to start the season. Of their opening 11 Premier League matches, United have already played all of last season’s top six alongside Newcastle United.
“I think it’s a little bit of everything, but it’s definitely something that you have to build,” Rashford added when talking about the team’s confidence. “We’ve had some new signings come in the summer and we’ve just managed to make it work and build that team spirit as quickly as we did.
“I feel like the players have integrated well and we’re learning about each other more and more. But, yeah, definitely, the team spirit is very high and we want to keep that going. Good performances help but even in the bad times we are going to stick together.”
United return to action on Sunday afternoon as they host West Ham at Old Trafford, before concluding their Europa League group stage campaign on Thursday with a trip to Real Sociedad. The Red Devils have to win by two goals or more to ensure they avoid a Round of 32 playoff match in the competition.
