Marcus Rashford explains what has gone wrong for Man Utd this season

Forum 7 months ago

Marcus Rashford explains what has gone wrong for Man Utd this season

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford believes his side must focus on the basics again after a tumultuous start to the current season.

Amid significant unrest off the field, the United squad find themselves under immense pressure after a poor first few months of the campaign. Erik ten Hag's side sit 13th in the Premier League and lost their Champions League opener against Bayern Munich.

"I think it's definitely not been the start that we would have hoped for in pre-season," Rashford told club media. "I think that's clear for everyone.

"We know football is a results-based sport and it always has been. So, we need to get the results in and I'm pretty sure that with the squad that we have, with the staff behind us, once we do get that first hard-fought result, we'll kick on.

"It's not the first time I've been in this situation. We were in this situation this time last year, then we had that game against Liverpool [and from then] I don't think we lost at home [in the Premier League] until the Brighton game just gone. So we know what that [next] win can do for us as a team and then it's up to the players to show consistency and you know, that's the bit that you can say we've lacked. In terms of last year, we were very consistent at home, so inconsistent away from home. But we need to find a good balance."

Asked what has gone wrong for his side, Rashford continued: "For me, you have to just look at the simple things first. We're not scoring as many goals and we're conceding more goals.

"If we try to bring those two lines closer together, and try to be a bit more compact, and help the man out to your left or to your right, then yeah, it might mean less chances for the forwards than we're used to from the games last season. But if we're defensively solid, I believe that we can score against any team in the world."

Rashford admitted United's upcoming clash with Burnley is the "most important" game at the minute and acknowledged the importance of getting three points.

"We've played against good opposition. Let's not get things twisted, we've played against good opposition, but we've shown, especially so close like last season - it's a few months ago - we've shown how good we can be and it is frustrating for the players when we're not quite playing at that level," he explained. "And, we don't need other people to tell us that, we already know that.

"We're the ones on the pitch and you don't want anything more than to get back to that standard that you know you can be at. And then when you get there, you want to push on. So for us, it's about finding that again. And the only way to do it is, like I said, sticking together as a team. No matter which 11 is playing, who's on the bench, that's the squad. And we're going to need this squad to win this game. And we take it game by game and get back on track."