12 February 2024 , 13:50
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists it is up to Marcus Rashford to maximise his potential at Manchester United.
The Norwegian was in charge at Old Trafford for the best part of three years and oversaw some of Rashford's peaks and dips in form. The forward did enjoy one of his most prolific campaigns under Solskjaer, scoring 22 goals in 44 games in the 2019-20 season.
This term, after the best season of his career under Erik ten Hag, he's struggled for consistency and has only scored on five occasions. Rashford has also been reprimanded and criticised for issues off the pitch with Solskjaer adamant that it is on the player to reach his best level.
The former United boss said: "I'm not sure it's the manager's job to get the best out of Marcus Rashford. Is it the manager's job to get the best out of him? Or is it mostly himself, or any player's responsibility to get the best out of yourself? That's more important."
Rashford's last misdemeanour saw him entering a Belfast nightclub in the early hours of the morning before failing to report for training the following day. He was then dropped for the FA Cup clash at Newport County.
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The forward now faces a battle to remain part of the England squad for the Euros this summer. He returned from being dropped to score at Wolves recently, but is yet to get close to last season's levels as some question whether Rashford will end up maximising his obvious talent.
The management of players has moved on considerably over the past two decades. Styles that proved effective years ago are no longer en vogue and the new generation respond differently to those who've come before, which Solskjaer admits is a big change.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer worked with Marcus Rashford for three years (Manchester United via Getty Images)"It's completely different, the way you talk to them [players] everyone has PR agencies and all these," he said. "Back in the day, if Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to speak to me, he rang my phone and he spoke to me or we spoke on the training ground.
"Now, we have to go through different agents and management which I find strange, because football is a game played by people, managed by people, and you need to be able to speak together, to connect, to get the best out of each other and to trust each other."
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