“Hate that attitude”- Incoming Manchester United assistant Steve Mclaren on Marcus Rashford’s body language
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Marcus Rashford
The Dutchman has quite a promising pedigree, but Manchester United is a completely different beast. Aside from the usual flaws at the back and in midfield, the 52-year-old will be tasked with reviving the fortunes of individual members of the playing squad, most notably Marcus Rashford.
Last season, the 24-year-old had his worst season as a Red Devil, scoring only five goals in 32 appearances. However, a lack of goals was not the most concerning aspect. His motivation and work rate were frequently questioned by fans and pundits alike.
The England international cut a lonely figure on many occasions, refusing to track back, failing to run at defenders, and making numerous errors. And whenever he made a mistake, his head would go down and his shoulders would droop.
The low point of his season came at home against Chelsea when Reece James had the freedom of the entire left wing to run at the United defence while Cristiano Ronaldo had to track back from his striker position.
Incoming Erik ten Hag’s assistant had some harsh words for forward Marcus Rashford
Steve McClaren, who will serve as Ten Hag’s assistant at Old Trafford, has previous experience of coaching at United. He is also a big admirer of Rashford’s talents but even he was critical of what he saw from the attacker last season.
“I hate that attitude in a player. Body language is so, so important, and that was the criticism of United players in the last few weeks, but Rashford has probably had this problem throughout his career in terms of questioning his attitude,” the former Middlesbrough boss told after the Reds narrowly scraped past Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup.
“He gets deterred too easily and doesn’t fight through bad moments. He doesn’t stay in the game. If he’s not having a good game, he’s not having a good game. 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.”
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Mclaren admits Marcus Rashford needs the help of sports psychologist
Steve McClaren, a big advocate of sports psychology, added that Rashford needed to accept that his attitude has become a hindrance in order to seek help off the pitch.
“Rashford has got the talent and the ability. There’s that one cornerstone which we call mentality, attitude, which he hasn’t grasped yet. There are certain tools with which you can come out of bad times, so you play one bad pass and don’t make it two or three.“
“You get back to playing simple again. He’s brought in a sports psychologist but a player needs to admit first that he’s in the wrong, has a bad attitude and needs help,” he added.
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