(Football news) The 26-year-old heads into Saturday’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace having had a direct hand in four goals in his last two games for Ten Hag’s side, three of his own and one assist.
After scoring his first Premier League goal of the season in last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Southampton, Rashford was one of a few Man United players to tear the Barnsley defence to shreds in the EFL Cup on Tuesday evening.
The England international scored two goals and set up one more in the 7-0 annihilation of the Tykes, and he is expected to reprise his role in the starting XI against Oliver Glasner’s side this weekend.
Rashford’s positive week comes in the wake of a forgettable 2023-24 campaign on and off the pitch, in which he only managed seven Premier League goals after hitting 17 in Ten Hag’s first season in the hotseat.
Ten Hag: ‘Class Rashford needs backing’
The attacker also hit the headlines for the wrong reasons when it emerged that he had taken an unsanctioned trip to Belfast for a night out, missing an FA Cup tie against Newport County soon after citing illness.
However, speaking to the media in his pre-game press conference, Ten Hag hailed the “class” Rashford for making changes to his lifestyle and attitude to work to have the right kind of impact again.
“I think he always knew. Every player knows, when your lifestyle is not right you can’t perform in the league we have to perform in. You don’t get the right levels if you don’t have a good and disciplined life away from Carrington,” Ten Hag said.
“He needed some help, by backing him, for instance. But he has to do it himself, at the end of the day. He has to set his life right, his training attitude right, he has to set his match attitude right. When he sets his professionalism he will perform because he’s a class player.”
Rashford’s troubled 2023-24 campaign came after he agreed a new long-term contract at Man United to stay until 2027, prior to which he was reportedly considering leaving in 2022 before being convinced by Ten Hag to stay.
Ten Hag: ‘Rashford knows how to fight back’
Amid his positive start to the new campaign, Ten Hag has implored Rashford to continue in the same vein while insisting that the attacker knows how to “fight back” from low points in his career.
“Every player in the Premier League, in this club, knows you need resilience. Not any football career has only ups, it also has downs. You have to deal with that. Rashford is experienced, he knows this,” Ten Hag said.
“He knows when there are setbacks, how to fight back and set his career and performance. He took control of that, he’s on the way back. He started the season very well, now he has to continue and progress.
“It’s very good when your strikers start to score early in the season, they need that belief. Now we have a couple of players who have been scoring and it’s good for the team.”
Rashford now has 134 goals and 70 assists to show from 408 appearances in a Man United jersey, but he has not made an England squad since March, missing out on selection for Euro 2024.
Also read: Manchester United receive a injury boost just before their Palace match
