Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim says Marcus Rashford “has to be the first to want it” if he is to return to his previous prolific scoring form.
The English forward started in Amorim’s first game as manager at Ipswich before opening the scoring after only two minutes at Portman Road.
But the 27-year-old struggled as a No9 as the game went on before he was substituted for Rasmus Hojlund in the 68th minute as the Red Devils tried to find a winner in the 1-1 draw.
It was only Rashford’s fifth goal this term having followed up a 30-goal campaign in 2022-23 with only eight last season.
“I will try to help him’, Amorim said. “That position is not best for him [through the middle], especially in a game like that. He was fighting with two giants.
“We will try to find the right solution for him. He has to be Marcus to try to return to that moment [his 30-goal season].
“Then he will have the help of the all the staff, of all the and all the fans because he is a Man Utd boy.
“But he has to be the first one to really want it.”
“For me it was nothing; I was with Roy Keane and he is the real star in that panel” 🌟
Ruben Amorim reacts to Ed Sheeran apologising to the Manchester United head coach for interrupting his interview in the team’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich last weekend 📃 pic.twitter.com/gFurUuh5Bs
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 27, 2024
Lack of goals a ‘concern’
Amorim takes manages his first home game as United boss against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League on Thursday after a somewhat uninspiring first game against the Tractor Boys.
The Red Devils were second-best against the promoted side and struggled to mount a threat on the home side’s goal even after the introduction of Hojlund and fellow striker Joshua Zirkzee.
On Man Utd scoring a joint-third lowest 13 goals in the league this season, the 39-year-old said: “There is a concern in lack of goals, but we have to improve as a team. We have quality players that can score a lot of goals.
“We saw in the second half [vs Ipswich]. Maybe it is because we focused on build-up. We all need to improve as a team. These players can score so many goals.”
‘We are in a different level’
Amorim has admitted it will take time for his players to get used to his methods and way of playing, while admitting implementing his tactics may take longer than it did at previous club Sporting CP.
He added: “It is hard to compare things. We are in a different level, this is a different league, so it is harder than in Portugal, but I also have more experienced players, they all play for national teams. They just need an increase to their confidence.
“At the moment I don’t know how to answer that question. I don’t know how long, but I know that with a lot of games without time to train it will be tough, for me, but it will be tougher for them because they are on the pitch and will suffer a little bit. I will try to help them.”
‘We will change formation’
Amorim deployed the same 3-4-3 formation he regularly adopted at Sporting against Ipswich, with the United players appearing to struggles at times with the new system.
The Portuguese coach insisted he will not be stubborn with the formation he selects, insisting: “We will do it [change formations], we have to do it and when I talk about our structure I believe we can play in different systems.
“We defend more in this game [against Ipswich] sometimes in 4-4-2 because Amad [Diallo] was with the left-back.
“Nowadays, every team changes the dynamics so we will adapt that. I think our structure, the power of it is to change the formation in each game.”
