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Marcus Rashford should be made Manchester United captain in a bid to fix his ailing form, Dimitar Berbatov has claimed.
Handing the highest responsibility to Rashford over Bruno Fernandes could be a motivational turn of the screw from Erik ten Hag, the Bulgarian believes.
Rashford has scored three goals all season but after a career-best 30 strikes last campaign, former Man United frontman Berbatov has backed him to be the answer to their scoring woes.
‘I think that at one point, Ten Hag should give him the armband and say, “look, I’ve given you even more responsibility, it’s up to you to man up and show me what you might have.” Just provoke him and see what happens,’ the Betfair ambassador tells Mail Sport from his parked car.
‘That new contract that he signed in the summer [should] give him the confidence to continue and stay at United but at the same time to understand that he’s experienced enough, mature enough, that he needs to lead the strikers.
‘In his case, something is going on. I don’t know what it is – maybe something in his personal life, maybe something in the dressing room, maybe something on the training pitch. Obviously, it’s not working as before.
‘And he needs to find that answer as soon as possible. If he finds the answer, that can be the answer for the team moving forward to scoring more goals.’
Rashford inked a bumper £300,000 deal until 2028 in the summer but has since encountered the most parched spell of his career.
Manchester United’s toothlessness as a unit means they have only outscored Burnley and Sheffield United in the league this season – and nobody has a worse shot conversion rate than their seven per cent.
Rasmus Hojlund, the £72million summer saviour, has one goal in 15 Premier League games.
Rashford, Anthony Martial, and Antony have combined to offer fewer goals in all competitions than Douglas Luiz, a centre midfielder, has in the league.
Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho is goalless, exiled, and is spending the rest of the season on loan at Borussia Dortmund because he could not apologise for an Instagram post in four months.
Four experienced strikers made their shortlist at the start of the transfer window – Thomas Muller, Timo Werner, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, and Serhou Guirassy. The former two won’t be happening, but should they sign a new striker?
‘No. Because the January transfer window can be tricky. And if you didn’t do your homework before the transfer window opened to know exactly who you want to buy, and you’re waiting and waiting on waiting, it means that you are just wondering, you’re just lost, you don’t know what to do, then I don’t think they should buy anyone,’ Berbatov explained.
‘If they have a plan, execute it now. If not, stick to the strikers you have, because for example if they buy a number nine, what is Rasmus going to think?
‘He’s gonna be like, “wait a minute, guys. Yes, I’m still young player, but you bought me just now. And now you’re buying another one? Are you disappointed in me?” Then his self-belief is going to drop even more.
‘But on the other hand, someone will say, well, what about the competition? Maybe he’s going to be thinking, “okay, someone is coming for my place. Maybe I will up my game even more.”’
He added: ‘The worst thing that you can do as a football player to hide from the ball. So I hope that in the case of Rasmus that’s not the case yet, because he scored his first Premier League goal, but now is vital and very important for him to follow with more goals. Because if another dry spell follows now, more questions will come his way.’
Manchester United’s next assignment is free-scoring Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday – and Berbatov backs the home side to win, despite the glaring problems he sees from behind his sunglasses.
To hear more from Betfair’s Dimitar Berbatov, listen to him on this week’s Football…Only Bettor podcast here.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
