Manchester United won their first trophy in six years under Ten Hag in February, and Rashford has described what he's done to get the squad performing
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Marcus Rashford has explained the genius of Erik ten Hag, highlighting the Dutchman's mentality and how he implemented it at Manchester United from his first day at the club.
Taking over at Manchester United in July 2022, Ten Hag was tasked with providing the club with optimism once again after a dreadful campaign which saw them finish 6th in the Premier League and trophy-less.
He'd have been forgiven for setting what seemed like more realistic targets off the back of that campaign, but, as Rashford describes, Ten Hag wanted nothing but the best.
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“When Erik ten Hag came in, I didn’t hear him speak about getting into the top four once, he just wanted to win trophies and he’s got that mentality," Rashford said on The Overlap. "It didn’t matter what competition we were playing in, he wanted to try and win everything.
“We gave it everything and let ourselves down in the Europa League, and in the Premier League there was a period where we weren’t defending as well and stopped scoring as many goals as we were – that’s something he’ll want to address."
Rashford also believes Ten Hag has created a togetherness among the players, something that has really benefited performances on the pitch.
“It’s not just the players that are playing every week, it’s the squad – Erik really concentrated on making everyone together as one, when he came in," Rashford said.
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Erik ten Hag had a successful first campaign at United, but demands more (Image credit: Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
"It’s impossible for everyone to play every game but as a player you have to accept and support when you’re not playing, and when you are playing, you have to give everything.”
Of course, not everything went well. United lost 6-3 to Manchester City and 7-0 to Liverpool, most notably. Ten Hag didn't dwell on those defeats, though, instead giving his players a much-needed boost ahead of their next game.
“Sometimes as players, you don’t want to watch [poor matches], but his [Erik ten Hag’s] understanding of players is very high. I don’t want to watch any bad games back – what’s the point? There’s nothing you can take from that, but the next game is important to clear your head because you can’t let that blow.
“Especially after the Liverpool game, we had Real Sociedad at home in the next game – we had a great performance and won 4-1. It’s not easy to recover, but he would always give us confidence again and remind us that we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t good players.
"I’m not one to need that all the time, but there are times after games like that where you need a reminder – he always gives us that full confidence and support."
Marcus Rashford was speaking on The Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet.
Rashford scored 30 goals in all competitions under Ten Hag last season (Image credit: Getty)
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
