Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal celebrates after the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Watford, at Old Trafford, in Manchester, England, Wednesday March 2, 2016. I remember one chance of Jesse [Lingard] against the goalkeeper but they got a penalty after we controlled the game.
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Wilkins warned against falling into the trap of “putting this young man under too much pressure too soon”, but fellow studio guest Iwan Roberts has been impressed by Rashford’s fearlessness.
Speaking to MUTV, the French midfielder said: “You have to show that [desire] week in and week out, but even more so when we have a lot of injuries and a lot of young players that are not known”. I think we were first in the table after that match, which is why we were so happy.
“A thousand managers would come to Arsenal and say “don’t give me a penny, but if I get Arsenal in the top four then pay me 10 million quid”. We shall guide him in that way.
Tottenham are playing very well I think, so they have a big chance, they are two points behind. Not a lot of teams play with two up front and they’re two guys who can run in behind the defence, hold the ball up, play it out and they can obviously both finish as well.
“I know (I can influence the fans from there) but I am not a clown, I am Louis van Gaal. We need players who are coming back because our programme is very full”, the Dutchman added.
The 18-year-old has gone from relative unknown to one of the country’s most feted players in a matter of days, having been given a surprise first-team opportunity last Thursday.
“I have to rotate, so with Rashford I have more players that can play in the striker’s position”.
Wayne Rooney will remain out of action for around another month with the knee ligament damage he sustained a fortnight ago, but Anthony Martial is in contention to return to the attack after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury.
But Van Gaal want the United academy graduate to keep his feet on the floor and ignore all the attention and focus on him following his remarkable rise to stardom in the space of a week.
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For his first goal against FC Midtjylland, he anticipated Juan Mata’s pullback sharper than his marker, but it was the cleanness of his instant first-time finish that impressed as much.
