Marcus Rashford: Man Utd forward must ‘take steps’ to reclaim his confidence, says Ralf Rangnick | Football News

Marcus Rashford has been challenged to haul himself out of his slump by Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick.

Despite the absences of Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani due to injury and illness, United started their game against Leicester without a recognised centre-forward as Rashford was among the substitutes.

Rashford was belatedly introduced in the second half of the 1-1 draw on Saturday evening but the impact was minimal as his struggles continued, having scored just five times in 27 appearances this season.

He was omitted from the most recent England squad but while Rangnick is optimistic Rashford can quickly begin to flourish again, the German thinks the 24-year-old bears ultimate responsibility for doing so.

“Marcus, it’s no secret that he is not having his best time right now,” Rangnick said. “It has to do with rhythm and confidence, it’s our job to help him to get this confidence back.

“The only thing we can do is speak to him regularly and tell him what we expect from him and what he should do. The rest has to be done by himself.

“It is possible to develop within a couple of weeks a level of confidence where you can be a different player again.

“We all know that Marcus can play better, but in the end he has to take the steps himself.”

Fred earned United a point after Kelechi Iheanacho had opened the scoring but the hosts were grateful for the video assistant referee as James Maddison’s goal was chalked off for a foul in the build-up.

United lacked cohesion in the final third overall, with Bruno Fernandes operating as a false nine and Paul Pogba playing higher up the pitch in an opening half where clear-cut chances were sparse.

United’s hopes of finishing in the top four were dented by this result, and Rangnick pinpointed one specific area where they were outclassed by the Foxes.

“I don’t think we have a lack of character but what was obvious in some parts of the game is that we were second-best with regards to physicality,” Rangnick said.

“On a day when we are fluid and in our rhythm we have shown in the past we can outplay other teams. But here was difficult. Leicester were aggressive and physical in many parts of the game.

“Whenever there was body contact we were too often second-best and that is something we have to get better at for the rest of this season but even more so for next season.

“This team does not lack technical players, it can do with more physicality.”

Redknapp: Rashford’s time has run now at Man Utd

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp on Saturday Night Football:

“I’m looking at Rashford now and this is a young man who I believe has to go and explore and do something else. He looks like he has fell out of love with the game right now.

“Go and play somewhere as there is no doubt a player in there and for him, there will be hundreds of club who want him. He has had enormous success against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain in Europe, clubs in England would want him – Tottenham, Arsenal.

“But I think his time has run now at Man Utd.”

Cole: Rashford will start proving himself once again

Former Man Utd striker Andrew Cole on Super Sunday Matchday:

“It is a strange one, I saw the manager came out yesterday [Saturday] and said he had trained well the past couple of weeks, but it was a straight decision between him and Paul Pogba.

“Now if Pogba and Rashford cannot get into that Man Utd team, then they do have problems. We all go through a lack of confidence when we play football, and the only way to get it back is to play games.

“Marcus’s form has been very up and down and you are at the stage where you could say he needs an arm around the shoulder, sit him down, talk to him and find out exactly what is going on – because there is no way he can get into the team at the age he did and then all that talent disappears.

“Confidence is a big thing and then once he gets that back, he will start proving himself once again.”

Rangnick: Rashford lacks confidence

Man Utd interim manager Ralf Rangnick speaking after his side’s 1-1 draw with Leicester on SNF:

“The second half was the better one, we were struggling to find the rhythm in the first half possibly because of the international break.

“We gave away a goal on a transitional moment but the reaction after was good and scored a goal. In the end we are not happy with the result but the second half was OK.

“The only one [striker] we had was Marcus Rashford. We knew this morning Cristiano could not play and decided to start Paul Pogba. After 60 minutes we made the change and had a central striker on the pitch.

“It is no secret that he was not full of confidence in the last couple of weeks. In training he is looking well but it was a question between Paul and Marcus, we went with Paul.”