Ten Hag's thoughts on Rashford's role in Man Utd's early season struggles
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is adamant that Marcus Rashford's form will improve, despite scoring just once in seven Premier League matches so far this season.
The 25-year-old struck in United's 3-1 defeat at Arsenal, but has not found the net in any other game, including the Champions League loss against Bayern Munich. Rashford's struggles then continued as United were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace on Saturday, before being taken off in the 77th minute.
It has been a poor start to the campaign for Rashford, and sources close to the United dressing room have admitted there is concern at Rashford's body language during games. The England star has cut an increasingly despondent figure and has not been involved as much as he may have wanted.
However, Ten Hag believes Rashford will turn his fortunes around. "I think he knows he can do better than he's doing now. I'm sure it'll come," the Dutchman said.
"He works hard, he will finish and it will come. It’s not automatic. As you've seen today, we were in the right positions and the decision-making was not good enough and we didn't score."
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Rasmus Hojlund, meanwhile, has scored once in five appearances since making the big-money move from Atalanta. Earlier this week, Rashford spoke about his relationship with the Norwegian and how excited he is to make that partnership work, though the duo haven't struck that connection thus far.
"I'm super excited about it," Rashford told the club's website. "At times last year, when we were on counter-attacks and stuff, usually only the cutback was on to Bruno [Fernandes] who was arriving later. This year the dynamics have changed.
Marcus Rashford has struggled for Manchester United this season (Getty Images)"We've spoken to each other, we've done a lot of work off the pitch, probably [stuff] that the coaching staff don't even know, because it's just between me and him. I just want to understand his game and he wants to understand mine as soon as possible. So far, I think it's been good.
"I'm sure it's a relationship that will help both players. I'm excited for it and the future. I'm just excited we've got so many games coming up, because we've got so many opportunities to show who we are."
United's defeat against Palace was their fourth in seven Premier League matches this season, making the club's worst-ever start in the competition's history. Ten Hag fumed at his side's performance after the match but knew exactly why they didn't come away with a positive result.
Ten Hag added: "It's actually quite simple. We concede only three chances over the course of the whole game, three from set-plays. Their goal, first of all, the free-kick. You have to be more controlled, it's not necessary to make a foul there. Then the ball is coming into the box and it's not good defending.
"We had poor decisions in the final third. We came so often in good positions, behind or in front of their backline, we had three players there in that moment. "We didn't have an impact to get to their goal and so whatever, the extra pass, final pass or a shot."
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