Louis Saha believes Marcus Rashford will soon find his form for Manchester United and when he does he will be ‘unstoppable’.
Rashford struggled for form and fitness last season, but after a full pre-season under new manager Erik ten Hag, hopes were high for a resurgence for the England forward.
Yet, the 24-year-old disappointed in United’s opening day defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday, missing two big chances after the break to get his side back into the game.
Former Manchester United striker Saha says Rashford has too much talent for fans to have permanent worries over the striker, and it’s just a matter of time before he rediscovers his form.
‘The longer it takes him to get out of this bad form, then the more you start to worry,’ Saha told Metro.co.uk. ‘But he has too much talent and he’s a great kid.
‘You can see that he loves the club, he’s very committed to the club, and he doesn’t talk to the press in any nonsense way.
‘It’s only a matter of time before he’s back to his best and scoring goals for fun. When he clicks again, then I think he will be unstoppable.
‘He’s had to come back from an injury and has to rediscover that confidence. Once he does that, I think he’ll continue to improve and improve.
‘I think sometimes he shows he’s more frustrated than he should be, but that’s just part of football when you have the talent, and it isn’t quite clicking.
‘If he keeps working hard and tries to enjoy his football more it will come back, I’m sure about that.’
A number of Man Utd players came under fire following Brighton’s first-ever win at Old Trafford, with former captain Roy Keane singling out Scott McTominay and Fred as ‘not good enough’, while the pair were called ‘ridiculous’ by Keane’s former midfield partner Paul Scholes.
But Saha believes that the pair have come in for some unfair criticism and the players to have the quality to succeed at the club.
‘It’s always easy to judge when someone is not playing well,’ Saha said on behalf of ThePuntersPage. ‘I don’t want to target those two players because they get a lot of the focus.
‘Manchester United are a creative team by history and they need to create more, so those two players can be criticised for that. But it’s not just down to those two players to create chances, it’s down to the rest of the team also.
‘The strikers, the wingers and the defenders all need to do better as well so it doesn’t expose anybody. This is the problem; nobody is stepping up to help out their team mates.
‘I don’t totally agree with the criticisms aimed at Fred and McTominay because they’re players who do have other qualities.
‘If they’re being asked to do something that they can’t, then it doesn’t just come down to their quality, it comes down to the courage they have and the support from the rest of the team.
‘At this moment in time, the foundation and the balance isn’t good enough throughout the team.
‘Everybody has to contribute, so I don’t totally agree that all the pressure and criticisms should be put on Fred and McTominay.
‘They’re both hard-working guys and you can see they’re both really committed to the game, so I think it’s unfair on them.
‘It’s only the first game, they need to improve that’s for sure, but everybody needs to step up. There are some big games coming up, so we will see if they can bounce back from it.’