Marcus Rashford labels Erik ten Hag’s pre-season at Manchester United as one of the ‘toughest’
Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has revealed just how gruelling their pre-season has been this summer.
The Red Devils enjoyed a successful season under Erik ten Hag in his debut year at Old Trafford.
Rashford will be hoping to enjoy another stellar season at UnitedGetty
Ten Hag has been gearing them up for another tough campaignGetty
Rashford told Neville just difficult it has beenThe Overlap YouTube
After a six-year wait, the Dutchman was on hand to bring silverware to the club thanks to their Carabao Cup success.
Rivals Manchester City approach the new campaign as reigning Premier League champions and treble winners.
United will therefore be gunning to challenge them for the crown in the coming months, with pre-season the perfect chance to prepare.
Ten Hag hasn’t been shy to put his stars through their paces as Rashford opened up to Gary Neville on The Overlap in partnership with Sky Bet on just how difficult training has been.
“Erik’s pre-season is one of the toughest, running wise but we also do a lot of passing drills and it’s a lot of mental concentration and when you’re already physically tired, it’s difficult to concentrate for long periods of time.
“We usually do ball work in between, so we’ll do a technical 20–30-minute session, and then we’ll go into maybe 8 or 10 blocks of box to boxes or shorter intensity runs.
“And then we’ll go back into technical stuff. It’s not actually a tough session, but when you do it in the heat of the places that we’re training in, it’s challenging. But I’ve enjoyed it, I turned up to pre-season in good shape.”
Although Rashford may well have been truly tested throughout the summer, he also expressed how important pre-season is for him.
“In this pre pre-season period, it’s about getting back up to speed before I want to go back into pre-season. A lot of it has to do with the physical aspects but also, when I go back into pre-season, I enjoy everyone being back together again.
“We’ve been away from each other for a while. I don’t want to go back into pre-season and be dying every day. It’s good to get back, I usually do it every year to get back into shape.
“Last year I had more time off, so I could do more of the training camp, so I did two weeks in total. 10 days of ball work, running and gym, then four days before [pre-season] of just getting back to speed.
“I had the time to do everything that I needed to tick off and I felt really well-rounded going into preseason. I wanted to be in that position this season as well, so it’s important for me to come here and get the work in.
Rashford is just under two weeks away from returning to the Premier LeagueGetty
“I’ve done a slightly shorter camp this time, I’ve only done eight days of continuous training.”
Rashford is yet to score during pre-season but having netted 30 times last term, he is likely to prove clinical up front once again for United in the new campaign.
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Manchester United ace Marcus Rashford has labelled manager Erik ten Hag’s pre-season at Old Trafford as one of the ‘toughest’ he had ever experienced.
Rashford, who has become one of the biggest names in English football over the last few years, joined United’s pre-season camp in July and was immediately put to the test by ten Hag’s high intensity drills. The Dutch tactician is known for his meticulous approach to training, and it has already been visible in his work with the Red Devils’ first team squad.
Rashford admitted that the training camp had been hard, but he had enjoyed the challenge. He said the intensity and dedication from the team had been “really impressive”, and that the work had paid dividends and had already helped the team in performing better on the pitch.
The England international also praised ten Hag’s ability to motivate the players. He claimed that the manager’s enthusiasm had “rubbed off” on the squad, and that the whole team had been working really hard in order to be ready for the upcoming season.
Rashford has already started brightly this season, and United are hoping that ten Hag’s methods will help him continue to improve and further challenge their title rivals this season. It certainly looks like it will be a tough campaign for the Red Devils, but with a manager as experienced and dedicated as ten Hag at the helm, they have every reason to be confident.