Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is confident that Marcus Rashford will become the first player in a decade to score 30 goals in a season for the club. Rashford’s Europa League winner against Real Betis on Thursday took his season tally to a personal best of 27 goals. The last United player to score 30 goals in all competitions was Robin van Persie in the 2012-13 season. Ten Hag believes that Rashford has the potential to score 20-plus goals, and he has progressed significantly throughout the season. The manager attributes Rashford’s success to his skills, attitude, and mentality, which have brought him a lot of progress and many wins.
United will host Fulham in tomorrow’s FA Cup quarter-final, and Ten Hag says that last month’s Carabao Cup final win over Newcastle has given his cup treble-chasing stars an incentive for a return to Wembley. The Dutchman believes that winning a trophy should be the fuel for the next one and should bring extra energy to beat Fulham. He emphasizes that Manchester United has to set a winning culture and mentality and compete in all games.
United will face Cottagers midfielder Andreas Pereira, who left Old Trafford last summer. Ten Hag has known Pereira for a long time and had him in the youth team of PSV before he transferred to Man Utd. Pereira did not perform consistently over several years at United, and Ten Hag believes that there comes a point where a player has to make a step back to make a step in the future.
In summary, Ten Hag is backing Rashford to break the 30-goal barrier for Manchester United, which no player has achieved in ten years. He believes that Rashford’s skills, attitude, and mentality have brought him significant progress and many wins. Ten Hag emphasizes that winning a trophy should be the fuel for the next one and should bring extra energy to beat Fulham in tomorrow’s FA Cup quarter-final. Finally, he believes that players may need to take a step back to make a step in the future, as exemplified by Pereira leaving United last summer.