Manchester United icon urges Marcus Rashford to follow Red Devils teammate's lead to regain lost form
Former Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov has urged Marcus Rashford to draw inspiration from teammate Scott McTominay amidst his poor run of form.
Rashford has flopped for the Red Devils this season after bagging 30 goals in the last campaign. The England striker has registered two goals and four assists in 21 games across competitions this season.
He has recently been dropped on some occasions by manager Erik ten Hag. Rashford also missed the game against Liverpool due to illness, but Berbatov reckons the English forward would have been benched otherwise as well.
He told Betfair (via Herald Scotland):
"Marcus Rashford was sick in the week, along with Antony Martial, so dropping the England forward was justified. But even if he wasn't sick, it's still the manager's decision because Rashford has been out of form. When he came on, he didn't do anything spectacular."
Berbatov then proceeded to explain how Rashford's current situation is similar to that of Scott McTominay.
"Giving the captaincy to a younger player who is out of form can help them but in this case it was given to the in-form Scott McTominay and he was fantastic. There are a lot of similarities between Scott's situation and Marcus Rashford right now."
He continued:
"He was struggling and no one knew if he was staying at United in the summer. Then all of a sudden he scored a few important goals, including his match-winning brace against Brentford, and he kept pushing to start. He's now captained the team so maybe Rashford can see how McTominay has turned around his situation and take something from it."
McTominay wore the armband for United after impressing this season. Berbatov praised the midfielder:
"Scott knows exactly what he needs to do. Fight for the team, sacrifice himself for the team. He's the type of player every team needs. Without players like him, teams can't go on to do big things, trust me."
The former Red Devils striker added:
"Giving McTominay the armband will elevate him mentally. It will allow him to think more seriously and take more responsibility. It will build him into a better man and player."
Scott McTominay has impressed for Manchester United this season
With Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat coming into the squad, Scott McTominay was reportedly on his way out of Manchester United this summer.
He was deemed surplus to requirements, but United failed to come to an agreement for the player with any club.
It turned out to be a blessing for the Red Devils, as McTominay has been their most scoring-friendly midfielder this season.
Given a new role by Ten Hag of arriving frequently but late in the box, the Scottish international has seemingly reprived his career at Manchester United.
He has registered six goals and one assist for the Red Devils in 19 games, including two match-winning strikes in the Premier League. McTominay continues to be a threat whenever United have the ball under Ten Hag's new system.