ERIK: RASHFORD CAN RAISE GAME
United boss confident striker can defy England snub
Erik ten Hag believes Marcus Rashford can use his omission from England’s Euro 2024 squad as fuel to power him on in the FA Cup final and to spur him back to scoring form with Manchester United.
Rashford, who’s been in England’s squad for the last four major tournaments, was dropped by Gareth Southgate when he named a 33-man training squad, with his international manager saying other attackers had enjoyed better seasons.
The 26-year-old has had a troubled season with United, scoring only eight goals and failing to find the net in his last eight appearances and may only be on the bench against Manchester City at Wembley tomorrow.
But Ten Hag is tipping Rashford, who has scored 131 goals in 401 games for United, to return to form in the future, saying: “He looks good and that is the career with ups and downs so a down can also be fuel, that is what I see in training. He will be highly motivated, he is highly talented. He has already a big career. I am sure he will get over this and get even more goals.”
United will be without Harry Maguire for tomorrow’s big game after the defender failed to recover from a muscle injury in time. “It [is] just he didn’t heal as expected,” said Ten Hag.
But Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount and Anthony Martial are all available while Ten Hag is at least able to call upon four specialist centre-backs, in Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans and Lindelof.
Ten Hag defended his record as he pointed out he could win a second piece of silverware in two seasons at Old Trafford. He added: “It’s all about trophies but you need an opportunity to win a trophy. So last 10 years, not so many trophies in this club but we have an opportunity to win two in two years.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea have narrowed down their search for Mauricio Pochettino’s successor to four candidates, with Enzo Maresca, Kieran McKenna and Thomas Frank all making the club’s shortlist.
It is hoped that Chelsea will be in a position to make an appointment by the start of June, if not a little earlier, with the sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart leading the search.