A FORMER Manchester United coach has claimed that Marcus Rashford wanted to place as a holding midfielder after suffering a crisis in confidence.
Neil Ryan, who worked with the youth team at United, revealed that Rashford, 25, wanted to play in the deeper role as he could not “burn past” players.
However, the now England under 18s manager, 48, insisted that Rashford would always be a forward and that his pace would come once he grew more.
He told FourFourTwo: “In the Under 12s and Under 13s he was fantastic and often up against older boys.
“You didn’t feel that it was effortless like it was with Ravel Morrison.
“Marcus’ attitude and talent always stood out, but aged 14 he had a confidence crisis and wanted to be a holding midfielder.
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“I recall talking to his mother and brothers.
“He spoke about wanting to get on the ball more.
“He didn’t have the pace then to burn past others because he was still growing, but we always thought he’d be a forward.”
Ryan proved to be right as the attacker is now vital to the club’s success this season.
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Rashford has enjoyed his best season to date under new manager Erik ten Hag.
The Englishman has scored 27 goals in 45 games across all competitions this campaign.
Rashford still has at least ten games left of the season to increase his goal tally too.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
