Wayne Rooney has called on Manchester United’s more senior players to look out for Marcus Rashford as the forward’s struggle for form continues.
The 26-year-old has endured a frustrating season in red, scoring just five goals in all competitions having racked up 30 last year.
Rashford’s desire and body language have repeatedly been questioned over the last few months, with Alan Shearer criticising him on this basis as recently as Wednesday night.
“Come on Marcus, get up, stop waving your arms around,” said Shearer in his role as a BBC commentator during Manchester United’s 1-0 FA Cup fifth round win over Nottingham Forest.
“I don’t like his body language at times, trying to send a message to fans, ‘it’s not my fault.’ he continued.
But Wayne Rooney doesn’t seem to think ‘body language’ is the root of the problem for Rashford.
Having played with him at Old Trafford for three seasons between 2015 and 2017, Rooney knows Rashford as a person and as a player.
And speaking on the BBC after the Forest game, Rooney said that regardless of form, Rashford has never been a player with outstanding body language.
Instead, Rooney seems to think the nub of the issue is a lack of ‘patience’ and ‘ruthlessness’ in Rashford’s play. To remedy this, Rooney says the forward needs to ‘simplify his game to get back in the groove.’
“He’s not the most vocal lad. His body language doesn’t look great at times but he’s not like that,” Rooney told the BBC.
“Confidence is the main factor, he hasn’t been scoring regularly this season and he maybe needs to simplify his game to get back in the groove.”
“I don’t think we created that many chances for him (against Forest).
“Marcus Rashford needs to be more ruthless and be patient and stay in the middle of the goal. You just want to see more from him.”
Wayne Rooney on Manchester United
As well as calling on Rashford’s United team-mates to ‘fire him up,’ Rooney says they also need to create more chances for him.
“The senior players need to get more out of him and get him fired up,” added the ex-Birmingham boss.
“You need the team to create chances for you if you are playing as a number nine,” Rooney said.
Meanwhile, Rooney says that March is a big month for Manchester United before stating, perhaps as a reference to the new owners that ‘we all know there are a few changes coming up.’
“It’s a big month for United. We all know there are a few changes coming up,” he added, as United bounced back from a 2-1 home defeat against Fulham last weekend.
“To play Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup is massive for Manchester United.”
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