Cliff Notes – Barcelona’s Flick asks Rashford to make more from chances
- Hansi Flick praised Marcus Rashford’s contributions but urged him to convert more chances, suggesting he could score one or two additional goals.
- Rashford acknowledged his decision-making in the match against Elche could have improved, impacting his potential goal and assist tally.
Barcelona’s Flick asks Rashford to make more from chances
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Marcus Rashford can score even more goals after the English forward netted his sixth goal for the club in Sunday’s 3-1 LaLiga win over Elche.
Rashford scored Barça’s third goal, firing home to seal the win after Fermín López had picked him out.
“When you see the chances he has, one or two goals more will be good, also for him,” Flick said in a news conference when asked where the on loan Manchester United man can still improve.
“But we can be happy with him, of course. I am very happy with him.
“He can play on this level and I am happy he shows it, for the fans and for the club, and also for the teammates he is a very important player.”
Rashford, 28, now has 12 goal contributions in his 14 appearances for Barça, more than anyone else at the club this season.
However, he felt his decision making against Elche prevented him adding another goal or assist to those numbers.
Marcus Rashford celebrates after scoring a goal for Barcelona against Elche. Getty Images
“I just try to do the right things on the pitch,” Rashford told reporters. “Even today, I could have had more assists or goals, sometimes the decision making to shoot or pass was wrong.
“But I am going to have days like this. The important thing is always the team and today we won. So I am happy for this.
“My focus is not so much on the output. If I am doing the right things, I know I will always be able to score and assist; my focus is with the team, to build relationships and feel comfortable.”
Barça had earlier raced into a two-goal lead against Elche through Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres before Rafa Mir pulled one back for the away side.
Yamal’s goal comes as he continues to manage a groin issue, with Flick reiterating once again it’s not a problem which is going to disappear overnight.
“His injury at the moment, he has to handle it and manage it,” the Barça manager explained.
“He’s doing really good. A lot of discipline, but he has to do this. Train, treatment, all these things he has to do, but he does it.
“It’s a good step for him forward. I cannot say it’s over. It’s about coming and going like this. He has to manage it.”
It was a vital win for Barça as they bounced back from last week’s defeat to Real Madrid to remain within five points of their Clásico rivals at the top the table.
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Flick liked some elements of his team’s performances but says improvements are still needed ahead of back to back away games this week against Club Brugge and Celta Vigo.
“I saw a lot of things we’re doing really good but I saw some things we make not so good,” he added.
“We have to improve in these situations. Today it was an opponent that really love to have the ball. It wasn’t easy.
“We wanted to press them in the beginning. We did it and scored very important goals. We created a lot of chances, but don’t make it so good to use these early chances.
“So we can improve a lot of things and we will do it. It’s the next step, three points more, more confidence and we go on.
“We now have two more matches before the [November international] break; we want to win them. First on Wednesday in the Champions League in Brugge. We want to win it.”