Marcus Rashford has backed new Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag to have an instant impact and transform the crisis-hit team.
United begin their pre-season a week on Monday, with their first game under Ten Hag against arch rivals Liverpool in Bangkok on July 12, as part of their summer tour of Thailand and Australia.
Rashford struggled last season, scoring just five goals in 32 games, and must convince Ten Hag of his enduring worth, after losing his status as a United first-team regular. But the forward, who has also lost his England place and is faces a battle to make it to the World Cup, reckons Ten Hag will get his philosophy across to United's players immediately.
“When a team changes its identity and changes the purpose of the football, it’ll be quite obvious to see,” said Rashford. “I think you’ll be able to see it at the beginning of pre-season, you want to get your fitness levels up. You want to get back to what it’s like to play in the Premier League.”
After facing Liverpool, United take on Melbourne Victory and Crystal Palace in Melbourne, before ending the Australian leg of the tour against Aston Villa in Perth. United have two more pre-season friendlies, against Spanish sides Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano, before the new Premier League campaign gets under way on August 6.
Rashford is convinced United's first pre-season tour since 2019, because of travel restrictions caused by Covid, will be a key aspect of the rebuild undertaken by Ten Hag. “We all enjoy getting away and spending that time together,” said Rashford. “Being away from home for so long, the team is like your little family. We’ve not been able to travel because of Covid, and it’s something that we’ve missed.
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“It’s always a big part of our pre-season so it’s exciting to be able to go to those places again. For a club like United, it’s important to play at some of the biggest and most popular stadiums around the world and, luckily for us, we’re getting the opportunity to do that. It’s going to be a new experience for some of us and it’s important to embrace it and enjoy it.”
Rashford, who starts a 10-day individual pre-season training camp in the US this week, is likely to have to do more than most United players to impress ten Hag. The 24-year-old had his attitude called into question earlier this year by one of ten Hag's new coaching team, former United No. 2 Steve McClaren. Former England boss McClaren, who worked under Sir Alex Ferguson from 1999 to 2001, did not hold back earlier this year, when addressing Rashford's loss of form.
"He gets deterred too easily and doesn't fight through bad moments," said McClaren. "He doesn't stay in the game. If he's not having a good game, he's not having a good game. I hate that attitude in a player. Body language is so, so important, but Rashford has probably had this problem throughout his career in terms of questioning his attitude. If he's not having a good first half, he'll never have a good second half. I just look at him and think that boy needs help, off the field and through the manager. There's that one cornerstone which we call mentality, attitude, which he hasn't grasped yet."
