Marcus Rashford Talks Manchester United Development, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and More

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford has revealed that playing as a winger has given him a “different perspective” of the football pitch and is improving his game as a striker, as per Peter Smith for Sky Sports.

In a revealing in-depth interview, the 19-year-old forward spoke United training sessions and his own recent development under Jose Mourinho, as well as the reasons why Zlatan Ibrahimovic is an excellent role model for him.

“Playing out wide is going to help me to develop to play in the middle in the long run,” Rashford said, as per Smith. “Looking at the game from a different perspective, it’s helping my game a lot. When I do get a chance to go in the middle, I find things more natural now. I do think it’s helping my game.”

Nine of Rashford’s 11 starts in the Premier League and Europa League under Mourinho have been either on the right or left flank, per WhoScored.com, but the England international does not appear to mind:

When I’ve been playing as a winger, there are positions you can put the ball into for the striker and when I go back into the middle I understand those positions more than I did. 

It’s not just about showing people what you can do on the ball in those wider positions, it’s about gaining the full understanding of each position and what it takes to get that spot.

Such an intelligent understanding of the game—recognising the need to learn from multiple perspectives— is rare to find in such a young footballer, and United fans should be delighted to hear that Rashford is comfortable with the pace of his own development. 

“Of course, it’s different playing wide because you have more defensive responsibilities but that’s part of the game,” he added. “I want to improve those, too.”

Any young forward needs a mentor at their club, and Rashford appears to have landed the jackpot after Swedish legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived in the summer. 

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