In the past, many scoffed whenever Manchester United star Marcus Marcus Marcus Rashford was compared to the French prodigy Kylian Mbappe. Now, Master La is still not as good as Mbappe, but it is no longer ridiculous to compare the two. Boss Ten Hag said the current England striker was "unstoppable".
In his current form, the only players better than Marcus Rashford may be Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, who are considered "new peerless doubles". In terms of statistics, Manchester United's No.10 has scored 10 goals in 10 games since the World Cup, unmatched in Europe's top five leagues. Of course, fans can't ignore the fact that he has played more games than others during this time.
In contrast, Mbappe seems to be more efficient with six goals in the last four games of the World Cup, but all five of his goals came from the same game, the French Cup against the lower divisions, and he completed the magical "five-son denko", which is an achievement that Rashford has never achieved.
In addition to this, the younger Mbappe already has more trophies, four Ligue 1 titles, five French cups and one World Cup. Rashford only won the FA Cup when Louis van Gaal was in charge of Manchester United and the League Cup and Europa League won by Jose Mourinho.
Manchester United boss Ten Hag said: "From the beginning I realised the huge potential of Marcus [Marcus] and now he has to use his potential and I believe there are few better players in the world when Marcus moves behind the defenders. At this moment there is Mbappe, similar to his type. But when Marcus is in that position, he's amazing and you see he's improved a lot in possession."
The 25-year-old has improved significantly this season, no longer just defensively counter-attacking and volleying. Moreover, his confidence has improved, which is an important factor in his obvious improvement compared to last season. After Marcus Rashford recently scored, he always ran outside the touchline to stand and then put his finger on his forehead in celebration. It's not his original move, which Championship Hull City Colombia international Oscar Espinian has used since last August, celebrating 12 goals in his league.
But Marcus Rashford carried the celebratory move forward, with Arsenal winger Saka, Newcastle United's Jorington and Brighton's Welbeck all following suit, and even Bayern Munich's Kimmich of the Bundesliga following suit. In cricket, English bowler Jofra Archer also put his finger on his head and closed his eyes after hitting the hole.
Commenting on the reason for Marcusford's hot form, Ten Hag said: "I'm not Harry Potter, confidence is important and every player has to build and maintain confidence. He fought for it, he threw himself into it. Me and the coaching staff brought the structure, especially the way the game was played. This gives him some routines that he needs to get into the right position, but ultimately it's up to him. If the player has confidence, he has confidence in the way we work, the environment and the culture are important, then the player can perform at his best. Marcus is obviously at his best in this moment, he's really in good shape, getting better day by day, better day by day, better from training to training, adding more and more routines."
Rashford himself explained that the move was a sign that his state improvement came from the brain. Marcus Rashford added: "When I'm happy, I can contribute to the team." Referring to the Manchester United star, Mbappe said: "Marcus Rashford is one of England's most threatening strikers and Pogba has said he is very special and the latter doesn't often say that about other players. I remember he scored the winning penalty in stoppage time against Paris Saint-Germain in 2019. In this case, practice is not important, but a matter of confidence, and he is very confident."
The key for United is to maintain Rashford's high level of confidence and ensure that he does not get injured under the pressure of frequent games, in addition to continuing to improve his game skills. In this regard, the club and players have followed the success of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ahead of this week's Carabao Cup semi-finals, Marcus Rashford revealed his ability to recover from a "cryosauna" at his fitness club. Cristiano Ronaldo has used this method during his time at Manchester United, as well as Manchester City's Mahrez. One hour after the athlete completes the workout, the body is processed for 3 minutes in a liquid nitrogen freezing chamber with a low temperature of minus 113°C, 3 times a week, which helps muscle recovery and normal heart rate. The Daily Mail said Rashford would need to pay £50,000 for it.
In addition to learning Ronaldo's physical recovery pathway, Manchester United are also arranging new forward coach Benni McCarthy in Carrington for a one-on-one training session with Marcus Rashford. At that time, Fergus arranged for his Dutch technical coach, Rennie Mulensteen, to train Xiao Luo, who had just turned 20.
McCarthy is South Africa's top scorer in football history, having won the Champions League for Jose Mourinho's Porto, including against Manchester United, and he also played for Blackburn Rovers and Ajax. McCarthy has improved Marcus' scoring prowess, and the latter no longer knows how to just blast with his right foot or rub three board axes into the far corner. Rashford's 18 goals this season have resulted in three left-footed goals and two headers into the net, a significant improvement over the past.
Premier League live footage showed assistant coach van der Gaag shouting, "Benny (McCarthy)!" after Marcus Rashford's header against West Ham He then looked gratefully with manager Ten Hag at McCarthy, who was sitting on the other side.
At the same time, Rashford's own efforts cannot be ignored. He is committed to achieving and staying at his best, getting faster and stronger. Last summer, Rashford trained intensively in the United States, including running on a 200-meter elevated track, carrying 50 kilograms of weight on his back, or strapped a bungee rope to his back.
Sports scientists analysed his sprinting style and adjusted his running posture to increase his top running speed from 21.31 miles to 22.12 mph, a sprint speed that saw Manchester United rise from 85th in the Premier League last season to 10th this season.
Marcus Rashford has improved his pace and improved his use of shooting technique, resulting in a significant improvement in scoring efficiency. Of course, he still has many flaws, such as passing people still rely too much on speed and body stuffy head dribbling, belongs to "big luck", once successful is a world wave, but there is also a higher rate of failure to be ridiculed.
Former Manchester United full-back Paul Parker recently criticised : "You have to respect his goals, but he also needs to improve on other links. He always kept his eyes closed and prayed that he would try to dribble past three defenders with his eyes closed and crossing his fingers."
Marcus Rashford is much older than Cristiano Ronaldo, and at his age, the Portuguese winger has become the world's footballer of the year, and is about to land at Real Madrid for a 10-year peak showdown with Messi. But 25 is not yet the golden age of a player, as long as the Manchester United star is willing to continue learning, he has a chance to become a world-class player.
Meanwhile, Rashford has another hurdle ahead of him. He is currently entering his contract year and is negotiating a salary increase with Manchester United. His agent brother is asking for a hefty salary of more than £300,000, and professional players are known to be always motivated and invincible when it comes to getting a raise, just like Liverpool's ace Salah last season. However, after a successful contract extension, their performance may decline significantly. Salah scored 23 goals in 35 Premier League games last season, but only seven after 19 rounds this season. Therefore, once Manchester United renew Marcus Rashford in the future, Ten Hag should also pay attention to maintaining the player's aggressiveness.