After a challenging night against Nottingham Forest, Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has pushed Marcus Rashford to be “more ruthless” in front of goal.
The England international was mainly inconspicuous at the City Ground, where Casemiro’s injury-time strike ensured a 1-0 victory and advanced United to play Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals.
Rasmus Hojlund was out due to injury, therefore Rashford was used as United’s primary striker. Alejandro Garnacho was shifted to the left wing to make room for Antony on the right.
However, Rashford missed two great opportunities and had a penalty claim turned down by referee Christopher Kavanagh in the second half, thus Erik ten Hag’s tactical change was ineffective.
Rooney acknowledged that Rashford’s problems were made worse by a lack of opportunities, but he still felt his former teammate needed to show greater patience in front of goal.
‘You need the team to create chances for you if you are playing as a number nine,’ the former United striker said on BBC (as quoted by the Daily Mail), where he appeared as a pundit alongside Gary Lineker and Jermaine Jenas.
‘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.’
The 26-year-old’s performance on Wednesday night was indicative of a challenging season in which he has had difficulties both on and off the pitch.
After scoring a career-high 30 goals last season, United’s No. 10 has only scored five goals in 32 appearances across all competitions this season.
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