Wayne Rooney had some advice for out-of-form Marcus Rashford after another insipid display for Manchester United against Nottingham Forest.
Rashford was put up front by Erik ten Hag to fill in for the injured Rasmus Hojlund.
However, the forward failed to live up to expectations and was an anonymous figure in attack, drawing another blank against a gritty Forest defence.
And if it was not for Casemiro’s stooping header in the 89th minute, the forward would have faced more flak after an abject performance.
Confidence
Speaking to the BBC, Wayne Rooney said: “Marcus Rashford needs to be more ruthless and be patient and stay in the middle of the goal.
“You just want to see more from him.
“Confidence is the main factor.
“He hasn’t been scoring regularly this season and he maybe needs to simplify his game to get back in the groove.
“He’s not the most vocal lad.
“His body language doesn’t look great at times but he’s not like that.
“The senior players need to get more out of him and get him fired up.”
Before the match, pundit Rooney had criticised Rashford’s work rate and advised him to put in the hard yards to shine through.
“He’s a player who’s come through.
“He’s got a massive amount of potential and already shown a lot of that.
“But I think for different reasons he’s found this season difficult,” Rooney said.
“We’ve obviously seen stuff in the headlines.
“But for Marcus the main focus is get your head down and more importantly work hard.
“I think that’s what everyone wants to see.
“His ability will get him the goals.
“We want to see Marcus enjoying his football but also working hard.
“Work for the team, that’s what everyone wants to see.”
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However, after hitting 30 goals in the last campaign, Rashford has been a shadow of his former self this season.
In 32 matches across all competitions, the England international has just five goals and six assists – which shows his massive drop in form.
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