Manchester United are set to welcome Leicester City to Old Trafford later on Sunday afternoon and Marcus Rashford could mark the occasion by setting a new personal record.
The 25-year-old is enjoying the best form of his career, having scored 14 goals in his last 16 appearances in all competitions. With roughly three months of the season remaining, he has scored 22 goals overall – his joint-best return (level with 22 in 2019/20).
Speaking ahead of the game against Leicester, where a victory would put the Reds eight points clear of fourth-placed Newcastle United, Ten Hag has revealed that happiness has been key to restoring Rashford’s form.
🗣 "When he's happy it gives him energy and that gives him a positive mood."
Erik ten Hag highlights the change in Marcus Rashford since he first joined pic.twitter.com/7GtMQu9590
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 19, 2023
“When he’s happy, (it) gives him energy,” Ten Hag told Football Daily, as seen above.
“That gives him a positive mood and then the goals will come. He has such great skills to finish goals.”
Quizzed on whether Rashford’s newfound form means that he was unhappy before Ten Hag’s arrival last year, the Dutchman was quick to point out that he will only comment on the period he has been working with the winger.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s only from the first day I met him, I said ‘I want to see you smile. When I see that, when I see your teeth, then it’s okay.’
“We see it often. I think he’s in a happy place. The whole dressing room is in a happy place. There is a lot of confidence and belief in this squad and that’s good.”
