Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals Marcus Rashford message ahead of Bournemouth tie
MANCHESTER UNITED interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer plans to give Marcus Rashford some of his “nous” inside the area so that he can show more calmness and composure with his finishing.
Solskjaer: There are things that we need to improve
The 21-year-old was one of the few players still performing during the final weeks of Jose Mourinho’s tenure.
But despite his lively displays, Rashford only has four goals in 16 Premier League matches this season - having squandered a succession of good goalscoring chances.
Rashford’s development has stunted somewhat since his stunning first-team breakthrough as an emergency striking option from the club’s academy.
The England international is still clearly a talented front-man but his inconsistent minutes under Mourinho, coupled with playing out wide when he prefers a central role, mean his progression has slowed.
But United club legend Solskjaer has brought back a feel-good factor by implementing more attacking tactics which should allow Rashford to fully flourish.
And the Norwegian - who was a deadly finisher in his 11 years as a player at Old Trafford to the extent that he became known as the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ - has designs on working with Rashford to iron out the kinks in his game.
But he is confident that Rashford can develop the predatory instincts to realise his obvious potential because of the many other qualities he has in his game already.
“I think Marcus has got his own motivation to become the best player he can be,” Solskjaer declared.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to work with Marcus Rashford on his composure in front of goal (Image: GETTY)
Marcus Rashford has frustrated with some of his finishing this season (Image: GETTY)
Maybe I can give him a little bit of the nous I had inside the box
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
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“He has got far more than I did in terms of his physical attributes, his pace, his strength and striking the ball from outside the box.
“But maybe I can give him a little bit of the nous I had inside the box.
“I’m talking about the littles moves you make to get free, that little bit of calmness in front of goal.
“Marcus is only 21. He’s still learning. The most important thing I can see is to just settle him down in front of goal.
“I’ve seen him rush a few finishes. He thinks ‘I’ve got to get a shot off early’ when sometimes you just need to pass it past the keeper.
“I always say that the goal never moves. So I am really looking forward to working with him.”
Marcus Rashford has five goals in 22 appearances across all competitions this season (Image: GETTY)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to work with Marcus Rashford on the training field (Image: GETTY)
Solskjaer was installed as interim boss until the end of the season after Mourinho’s sacking and insists he is relishing it so far but is looking forward to implementing his tactics more.
He toldSky Sports: “It is really enjoyable. You're coming in and see these players here and the quality I have to work with, of course you have to enjoy it. I've got to say, I'm enjoying every single minute of it.
“Tactics is one side of it but we haven't changed many of the tactics. We've just asked them to go out and express themselves.
“Because we need to see what they're capable of as well for when we get to the bigger games.
“Tactically, we'll get time to work more, we get weeks now in January to work on the other side of it because it's all been about us in the first couple of games.”