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Man Utd star Rashford reveals what Solskjaer has changed in dig at Mourinho
MANCHESTER UNITED striker Marcus Rashford feels Ole Gunnar Gunnar Solskjaer is the first manager to bring “stability” to Old Trafford since he broke into the first-team.
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Rashford was handed his debut by Louis van Gaal in February 2016, scoring twice against Midtjylland in the Europa League, which was followed by a brace in his Premier League bow the ensuing weekend.
Louis van Gaal was fired at the end of the 2015/16 campaign and replaced by Jose Mourinho, who Rashford then played under for two-and-a-half years.
The former Manchester United manager constantly defended his use of Rashford during his tenure.
The forward regularly made appearances under the Portuguese but did not start as much as some fans demanded.
Mourinho also favoured a left-sided attacking role for the academy graduate as opposed to playing him down the middle - his preference.
Speaking to The Times ahead of United’s Premier League opener against Chelsea on Sunday, Rashford surreptitiously threw shade at Mourinho when speaking about his successor Solskjaer.
“He [Solskjaer] has brought stability,” Rashford said.
“In the past three years, you were never sure about anything. Now we have stability.
“Everyone’s in a good mood, a good place. It’s a completely different environment to what it has been, it feels back like normal.
“We really want to test ourselves now against the best in the league."
Solskjaer claimed Rashford could go on to become a better striker than he was in his playing days last season and put faith in the 21-year-old over Romelu Lukaku.
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The extent of that faith was reflected when Lukaku was allowed to leave Old Trafford on deadline day, joining Inter Milan for £73million.
Rashford’s grasp of the No 9 position has been tested in pre-season though, positionally and numerically.
Anthony Martial reverted to the No 9 shirt in Lukaku’s wake, which he lost to Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2016, and also played centrally against AC Milan last week.
Solskjaer has been experimenting with formations, though, and could fashion a strike partnership between the pair - as he was used to playing in - this season.