Former Man United youth coach Neil Ryan revealed that Marcus Rashford once considered becoming a holding midfielder.
Marcus Rashford has always shown the potential of a top attacking player. However, Rashford’s path to becoming a professional player was not smooth. There was a time when Rashford lacked confidence that he wanted to give up being an attacking player to play as a holding midfielder to recover the ball in the middle of the field.
Neil Ryan, a former coach who worked for 15 years at Man United’s youth team before becoming England U18 coach, shared with FourFourTwo about the process of forging Rashford to become a top striker.
“In the U12 and U13 teams, he played very impressively and often played with the older brothers. You can feel him playing very comfortably, like Ravel Morrison. Rashford’s attitude and talent has always been outstanding. But at the age of 14, he had a confidence crisis and wanted to become a holding midfielder.
I remember talking to his mother and brothers. Rashford said he wanted more of the ball. At that time he didn’t have the speed to surpass others because he was still developing. But we always thought he would be a striker.”
Rashford made his Manchester United debut in February 2016 under Louis van Gaal. Rashford scored on his Europa League and Premier League debuts, as well as in his first England appearance.
Rashford also had a difficult season last year. However, he has regained his confidence and ability to score his best goals this season. In all competitions, Rashford has contributed 27 goals for MU in the 2022/23 season.