Man Utd star praises Louis van Gaal for putting him on path to the top
Marcus Rashford hailed “top” Louis van Gaal for guiding him to stardom. The Manchester United striker, 22, burst on the scene under the Dutch boss in February 2016.
And he scored twice on his debut against Midtjylland in the Europa League.
Then, in his first Premier League appearance, Rash grabbed another two in a 3-2 victory over tonight’s opponents Arsenal.
Since then he has become a Three Lions regular and this season boasts 16 United goals.
But the local lad still remembers the lesson he learned under his former United manager.
Especially when he was hauled off by LVG at half-time with the game scoreless in a clash with Spurs that ended in 3-0 defeat in April 2016.
Rashford said: “The time with Louis was very good for me. He and Ryan Giggs helped me a lot.
“Because that transition from the reserves to the first team can be hard — I hadn’t played much reserve football.
“I was on the bench for the first team before I had even started for the reserves.
“Van Gaal was top. At the time I was getting a lot of praise and attention from everywhere outside but the biggest thing for me were his words.
“That was what was making me smile every day. To be part of Man United’s first team.
“There were some games when it was difficult.
“I remember a game — Tottenham away — when he took me off at half-time. The next day we spoke honestly — I was still smiling.”
Rashford already has a season’s-best goal haul — hitting 19 for both club and country.
In an interview with ex- United striker Robin van Persie on BT Sport, he added: “Sometimes we are our biggest nightmare. We want everything too fast.
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“Because we won the FA Cup with Van Gaal, I had it in my mind that we were going to win everything.
“So you are going into the season with expectations and you get a reality check.
“The way he dealt with the Spurs situation — that was the game I realised I was in a man’s world.”