Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim
Michael Owen has warned Marcus Rashford that he must improve mentally if he is to get back form in a Manchester United shirt.
Rashford scored the first goal of the Amorim era – popping up inside two minutes to give United an early lead against Ipswich Town – and then bagged a brace in the 4-0 win over Everton.
Despite the early promise, Rashford has fallen out of Amorim’s preferred starting XI and was benched for United’s Premier League clashes against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
The Englishman did start the Europa League game against Viktoria Plzen but was hauled off with more than half and hour ago after failing to impress in a central role.
And as the Red Devils prepare for one of their biggest games of the season against arch-rivals Manchester City, Owen has challenged the 27-year-old to improve mentally to get back to his best.
‘With Marcus, it doesn’t seem to me like it’s an ability thing,’ the former United strike told Metro. ‘It’s more of a mental thing.
‘We’ve all seen how good he is many times so I don’t think that anybody has any doubts about his ability but, mentally, I think he needs to become a bit better.
‘Maybe this regime will drag him along. Maybe he’s one of the players that you think, “no, everybody else is doing well, he might not be, and it might take time”.
‘You’ve just got to hope that the new format, the new regime gets the best out of him.’
Despite concerns over Rashford, Owen was far more positive about the signs shown by new boss Amorim who has won three of his first six games in all competitions since arriving from Sporting Lisbon in November.
‘At the moment, I would just sit tight, watch, and enjoy, because they’re a far better team than the previous one already,’ Owen added.
‘You can already see how the team is going to develop and they already look like they create far more chances and score more goals.
‘I think it’s already quite exciting, but I think it’s going to get even better. Man United fans have had to be patient for so long now, and to give this guy a little bit of time I think is the right thing to do.’
Michael Owen was speaking to Metro on behalf of AceOdds.