Former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra has credited forward coach Benni McCarthy with playing a significant role in Marcus Rashford’s improved form this season.
Marcus Rashford has 15 goals to his name for Manchester United this season and he will be looking to add to that tally this weekend, when the Red Devils host Man City in the Premier League.
The 25-year-old goes into the derby having scored seven goals in his last six matches since returning from the World Cup last month. Pep Guardiola will need to prepare his defenders for facing the Premier League’s most in-form wide attacker at the moment.
Patrice Evra believes Benni McCarthy deserves credit for getting the best out of Rashford.
“We need to give credit to Benni McCarthy, he’s responsible for all the forward players and you can see he is doing a good job,” Evra told Betfair, as per the Manchester Evening News. “Maybe he is the one saying to Marcus that he needs to score more goals and be a killer.
“So, I think what United are doing with Marcus is good work because I see someone happy. That is the key. It’s the biggest difference I see in Marcus, now he is smiling.
“Before, when he scored a goal you could see he was angry and upset with something, now he is happy. A happy Marcus Rashford is dangerous. He’s electric.”
While Rashford has scored 15 goals this season, his tally for goal contributions stands at an impressive 21. It currently looks like the England international is enjoying his best season yet since breaking into the first team as I expect him to outscore previous seasons.
Evra added: “Rashford doesn’t surprise me because this is what I expected from him from the start. Marcus lost his happiness and when I was at one of the games I said to him, ‘What’s the most important thing for me now is to see you smiling because you’ve got the quality but sometimes when I watch you it looks like you’re bored on the pitch’.
“I think the problem was away from the pitch and there were things that we didn’t know about. When I told him that, he said I was correct. United fans appreciate what he is doing for the kids but right now his main focus isn’t off the pitch, it’s scoring goals for Man United.
“You have to be honest, when you prioritise football over anything else, that’s when things work. If you want to play at the highest level, football has to be your priority. Marcus’ main focus is Man United.
“People expect him to score 20 or 30 goals, I don’t expect that because no matter if he keeps scoring, I don’t think he’s a killer, he’s an important player for United but we still need a goal scorer. I don’t expect Marcus to score 25 goals every season, maybe he will prove me wrong, I think he can do it in one season but this is not his goal, I said to him he needs to enjoy what he is doing, enjoy running, enjoy defending and the goals will come.”
Whatever McCarthy is doing with Rashford, I hope it starts to work on Anthony Martial soon. The Frenchman has gone backwards in recent weeks.
