Southampton 0-3 Manchester United: Peter Crouch and Joe Cole hail Marcus Rashford mentality switch

Marcus Rashford ended his long wait for a goal in Manchester United's comprehensive 3-0 win at Southampton. TNT Sports pundits Peter Crouch and Joe Cole both praised the English forward's mentality and backed him to rediscover his previous sparkling form for club and country. After extra training sessions over the international break, Crouch thought Rashford was "a lot sharper" at St Mary's.

Cole says Rashford needs to work on body language – ‘Would help his overall performances’

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Peter Crouch and Joe Cole praised Marcus Rashford’s mentality after the English forward scored his first goal since March in Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Southampton.

Rashford’s curling effort before half-time put the visitors 2-0 up after Matthijs de Ligt shrugged off his inconsistent international form to score his first goal for the club.

The TNT Sports pundits have backed the 26-year-old to rediscover the kind of form that saw him score 30 goals in all competitions two seasons ago.

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And with the news Rashford has been putting in extra training sessions over the international break with assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy, Crouch saw a “certain hunger” in his performance at St Mary’s.

“Maybe at times his mentality has been questioned,” Crouch told TNT Sports. “As a footballer, that’s never nice to hear.

“I’m pleased to hear that he’s putting in those sessions and hopefully he gets back, because we want to see the best players in the Premier League firing on all cylinders and he hasn’t quite been there yet.

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“But if he gets back to anything like that, then Manchester United have got a top, top player again.

“It’s one game, obviously Southampton have been struggling, but I thought there were lots of positives.

“I mean, he takes a hammering, Marcus Rashford, and I feel sorry for him at times because I think people expect so much and he has got so much talent; it’s in there.

“But there was a certain hunger to him today. I definitely thought he was a lot sharper than he has been in previous weeks.”

The former Liverpool and Southampton striker said that Rashford should be aiming to double his tally of eight goals netted in all competitions last season.

Cole, meanwhile, thought the England international needed to net at least 20 times in a single campaign to fulfil his potential.

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“I’m a massive fan,” enthused Cole. “When he’s on form, he’s a cert for England, certainly the squad, maybe the starting line-up.

“I think he needs to be getting 20-plus goals in all competitions. I think he’s more than capable. He’s shown he’s more than capable of doing it.”

But the ex-Chelsea attacker also believes the added scrutiny and his longevity at Manchester United means Rashford should be wary of projecting negativity with his body language.

“When you’re a top player, that [criticism] is par for the course. Marcus has been a top player for England and Manchester United for many, many years,” said Cole.

“Also, he’s just a story, Marcus Rashford. When he scores, he’s a story, when he doesn’t score, he’s a story.

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“No doubt Manchester United means a lot and playing football means a lot.

“But the key thing for him, when things are not going well is just keeping his body language nice and positive. Don’t give us a chance to think you might be down.

“The criticism is what it is, but the body language would certainly help, because he’s a senior player now, he’s the icon at this club.

“We can all walk and talk when things are going well. But when things are struggling and they don’t look like they can get a result, if his body language was a little bit better, I’d like to see that and I think that will help his overall performance.”

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