Despite his team’s attacking struggles, Erik Ten Hag believes he has a striker who can score 20 goals every season and has urged Marcus Rashford to be more clinical in front of goal.
Rashford has frequently found himself leading the line for Manchester United this season due to Anthony Martial’s injuries and Cristiano Ronaldo’s struggles with form and fitness.
He scored five goals in ten games this season, including two doubles as United fought to a 3-2 victory over Omonia Nicosia and against Arsenal.
Rashford, though, squandered 10 of the 34 chances he was given to score as Ten Hag’s team fought to a 1-0 Europa League victory over the Cypriot team. Only 13 goals have been scored by United this season, the fewest among the top seven Premier League teams, but Ten Hag is adamant that he has the players to score more.
However, he has urged Rashford to be more productive in front of goal ahead of a tough run of league games. As reported by the Sun, the gaffer said:
“He did a lot of things well. But he knows that he has to be more clinical and he had to score a goal. When you have such good movements and make such good combinations, and good actions, then you have to finish. I know sometimes it’s the game, it’s not your night and it’s about the form of the day but it can change in another game.
“He’s in a really good run, and that shows in the chances he creates. Now it’s two games he has been a little unlucky. Last Sunday [at Everton] he deserved a goal but they cancelled it, this time he didn’t score. I say save it for the coming week.”
The first of three challenging games for United is a Sunday home match against Newcastle. The Red Devils will then host Tottenham before playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
With such tricky fixtures coming up, the Red Devils need to push their game to the next level in order to grab vital points in all these fixtures. Ten Hag will demand more goals from his side and be sharper in attacking moves as the opponents will be quick enough to punish the team for wasting such chances.
