Man Utd legend praises Marcus Rashford and makes intriguing Cristiano Ronaldo claim

Manchester United legend Gary Neville believes Marcus Rashford has become ‘a completely different player’ under the management of Erik ten Hag.

The England star became something of a peripheral figure at Old Trafford last season as he struggled to find form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim manager Ralf Rangnick.  Rashford ended the campaign with just five goals in 32 appearances in all competitions, a total that represented his poorest return since he broke into the senior set-up six years ago.

But the appointment of former Ajax head coach Ten Hag has sparked life into the attacker and he made it seven goals in 15 appearances so far this season when he headed home the only goal of Sunday’s home win against West Ham United.

Former United captain Neville believes the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo may have impacted on Rashford last season but has seen a marked improvement from the forward throughout the current campaign.

He told Sky Sports: “He’s a completely different player and there were people with good intentions that thought he would have to move away from Manchester United.  I thought that would have been a shame and I hoped the moment would come back when we would see him confident again.

“When he’s running with real power and strength and flow, there were times last year when he would get in that position and he’d be hesitant and pass it back, taking the easy option.  He’s now looking like he’s got real intent and there were also moments last year when Cristiano Ronaldo was available and he’s almost look like he had to pass to him like he was subservient to him.

“I feel like he’s now willing to take that difficult [option] and play him in when he needs to.  I thought he was really good today.”

Rashford will hope to add to his tally when United round off their Europa League Group E campaign with a visit to La Liga side Real Sociedad on Thursday evening.