Rio Ferdinand explains two ways that Marcus Rashford can improve further despite Man United form

Rio Ferdinand believes that Marcus Rashford can become a “horrible player to play against” if he adds some more strings to his bow despite his excellent form for Manchester United.

Rashford, 25, has been United’s standout player under Erik ten Hag, scoring 21 goals so far this season.

Since the return of domestic football following the World Cup, the English forward has scored 13 goals in all competitions – four more than any other player in Europe’s top leagues.

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His direct and clinical nature has been on show throughout this period and we’ve even seen development in his aerial game, scoring four headers so far this term.

However, Rashford is not always involved in the game and is sometimes impacting through strong sparks. Ferdinand believes the forward can be even more dangerous should he focus on his movement in order to find himself with the ball more often.

“If I’m a defender sometimes I look at him and he can make it easy for defenders at some points in the game if he offered the threat in behind a bit more he’d get more joy to feet and become the threat in behind still,” the former United defender said on his YouTube channel Vibe with FIVE.

“His decision-making on whether to come long or short, if he gets that he becomes even more of a horrible player to play against.”

Rashford has been a particular threat when running with the ball at defenders; with his goal against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup at The City Ground being the stand-out example.

However, despite being the primary goalscorer, Rashford has shown his creative ability on occasion. He slipped through a pass to Christian Eriksen – who set up Bruno Fernandes – for United’s goal against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

That’s another facet of his game that could allow Rashford to gain more control in fixtures going forward, according to Ferdinand.

“I think there’s more of the dominance over 90 minutes that he can bring where he’s bringing other people into the game because you know he’s got the passing,” he added.

“We saw that last season, even when he was out of form there were still elements where you were saying ‘wow’. He can produce a pass and put people through on goal if there are runners.

“Once he starts getting that synergy with other people in the team he’ll be able to pick out players more. He can take over a game.”