Marcus Rashford made his Manchester United debut under Louis van Gaal, scoring twice in a 5-1 win over Midtjylland in 2016, aged just 18.
Van Gaal left Manchester United at the end of Rashford’s debut season after leading the club to the FA Cup, but he is still highly regarded by Rashford and most of his players at United. When the strategist was diagnosed with prostate cancer, Rashford wrote on Twitter: “Debuted under LVG. Will forever be indebted to you. Master can fight this disease. All of them I’m all behind you.”
Rashford made his Manchester United debut with Van Gaal in February 2016 when the Red Devils faced Danish side FC Midtjylland in the Europa League. The Dutchman has shown his faith in the young Red Devils star and that seems to have paid off as Rashford introduced himself to the Old Trafford faithful with two crucial goals.
Rashford also scored twice on his Premier League debut under the Dutch coach – helping the Red Devils beat Arsenal 3-2 right at Old Trafford. The England international continued to repay his mentor by scoring eight goals in 18 appearances under his tutelage. Despite the controversy over Van Gaal’s time at United, he is still credited for giving Marcus Rashford the opportunity to come to light.
Many years have passed, and this striker is still basically a star of MU but has not been in really outstanding form. The 2021/2022 season is the time when he bottoms out with 5 goals scored, Rashford’s future is even in doubt. But then Rashford has thrived under Ten Hag this season and is in superb scoring form.
Manchester United’s improvement has been astounding under Erik Ten Hag, and that improvement is most evident in the excellent form of Marcus Rashford. During his job interview, Ten Hag promised that he would get Rashford back to his best, but few thought he could do it in such a short amount of time.
Ten Hag gave Rashford real confidence and opportunity, and the faith paid off fiercely. Since the World Cup, Rashford has been Europe’s best performer, finally finishing the season with 30 goals and 11 assists in 55 games in all competitions. He received the title of Top Scorer and was also voted the Red Devils Player of the Season.
Looking back over the past 7 years, when holding two prestigious awards, Rashford will probably think of his special relationship with the Dutch. One gave him the first chance, and the other gave him the chance to redo everything. But Ten Hag does not have a sad ending like Van Gaal, Erik can join Rashford to lift the FA Cup this season and with him to conquer bigger titles in the years to come.