Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag heaps praises on 'unstoppable' player after incredible performance against Barcelona
Manchester United played out a thrilling 2-2 draw against Barcelona in the Round of 32 match of the Europa League on Thursday, February 16.
The Red Devils earned a well-deserved draw at Nou Camp and will now await the second leg at Old Trafford.
With Jules Kounde scoring an own goal, Marcus Rashford was the only scorer for United on the night. It was Rashford's 13th goal post the 2022 Qatar World Cup, putting him at the top of the tree for goals scored by a player in Europe's top five leagues in that time frame.
Praising the English forward's goal-scoring form, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag said:
"He [Rashford] is so unstoppable in this moment. He has such a high belief of scoring goals but I have to credit the team because they bring him in the right position every time."
Erik ten Hag explains why Manchester United deploys Wout Weghorst at number 10
Manchester United signed Dutch forward Wout Weghorst from Burnley on loan for the remainder of the season in January.
The burly striker has scored only one goal in nine games but is an essential piece of the puzzle at Old Trafford.
He does not play a traditional goal-scoring role at the club. Instead, the tall Dutch forward gets into a deeper position to allow players like Rashford to get into scoring positions. Weghorst is also good at counter-pressing when United loses the ball in the final third.
Explaining the plan to deploy Weghorst as a number 10, Ten Hag said:
"It's more tactical but also to get some other players in good positions in the whole front three; Bruno, Rashy and Jadon. But also to get a good press on and I think the plan worked well."
United have been in brilliant form post the World Cup, losing only one game so far (3-2 against league leaders Arsenal at the Emirates).