Marcus Rashford

Rashford: Why I looked up to Rooney

Friday 13 January 2023 09:59

Marcus Rashford says matching Wayne Rooney's mark of eight straight scoring games at Old Trafford recently was a 'massive moment' for him.

Our no.10 grew up idolising Rooney and the way he approached the game and, of course, shared a dressing room with our all-time leading scorer for a couple of seasons, when he first broke into the senior side.

Rashford is in hot goalscoring form at the moment and was speaking after winning United's December Player-of-the-Month prize, following goals against Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Wolves.

He beat Casemiro and Luke Shaw to the accolade and his momentum has continued into the new year, with Marcus now levelling Rooney's 21st-century record run from 2010.

Ahead of another Old Trafford outing, against rivals Manchester City, read the full interview with Marcus as he collected the December prize...

Rashford accepts Player of the Month prize Video

Rashford accepts Player of the Month prize

Marcus Rashford discusses his goalscoring form, recent results and Wayne Rooney as he's presented with a club award...

Marcus, congratulations on winning United’s Player-of-the-Month award for December. How do you reflect on your performances last month?
“It’s been good, you know, I’ve been scoring goals and, ultimately, we’ve been winning games, so it’s been an enjoyable moment. At the same time, it’s been a bit difficult with everyone coming back in different frames of mind from the World Cup but it’s good to be back and to put the performances and the results together, like we’ve done so far.”

You beat Casemiro and Luke Shaw to the award. Any other month, they’d have been worthy winners, so just a word on their performances recently as well…
“Yeah, I think both of them have been unbelievable. Both have played out of position as well, at different stages of the month, since we’ve come back from the World Cup. In my mind, they’re top players and they’re going to have top performances and we need players like them if we’re going to go on and win the trophies that we want to win and reach the goals we’ve set ourselves.”

There are obviously a lot of individual awards in football nowadays but does this one always mean more, because it’s voted for by United fans?
“Every award is a nice award but, like I said, it’s definitely a nice feeling to be recognised by your own fans. So, yeah, I appreciate everyone who has voted and I hope we can continue to play good football.”

You’re the fifth different winner of the award this season, in five months, do you think that reflects well on the team’s form in general, with lots of different players contributing to our success so far?
“Yeah, probably. I think, as a collective, we’ve improved as the season’s gone on and from where we’re sat now, I hope that that continues to happen. Yeah, I think definitely everyone’s put in a shift. Everyone’s done their part and we have to continue to do that. When others aren’t playing so well, we have to keep pushing them and be a friend as well as a team-mate. At the end of the day, if one of us wins, we all win. That’s the mentality we have and, like I said, I’m just looking forward to what the future holds for this group of players.”

Every Rashford goal since the World Cup Video

Every Rashford goal since the World Cup

Marcus has scored seven times in United’s last six games: watch every strike here…

Obviously, the form’s carried on for you into January too. Do you feel like everything is just clicking in front of goal for you at the moment?
“I just feel that, as long as we keep creating good opportunities, then we’re going to score goals. I think with the forward line, there’s a lot of talent in it. It obviously has goalscoring ability so it’s not just going to be me who’s scoring goals. I think the forwards, in general, will score goals because we’ve got very good passers of the ball in the team. As long as we make good runs consistently, there shouldn’t be a game where we don’t get a chance. I think, as a forward line, we’re happy with the way we’re playing at the minute, but there’s always room for improvement and you never get tired of scoring goals. A lot of us are still hungry to do that. Like I said, with the players we’ve got in the midfield and the backline playing forward passes, I’m sure we’ll continue to do that.”

With the goals against Charlton, you matched Wayne Rooney’s eight-game scoring run at Old Trafford [from 2010]. You’ll have grown up watching him play so how much did that mean to you and how much did you learn from him growing up as well?
“Yeah, obviously it’s a massive moment for me, but for me to match something that he’s done is incredible. I think he had an incredible career for United. He was one of my heroes growing up and someone that I always used to enjoy watching, probably not just because he’s a top player but just his personality on the pitch. He wants to leave everything out there and it’s just the small things that make up his qualities that he showed for many years. They were the things that appealed to me when I was younger and watching him, so it’s always great to be along the same lines as those types of players, because it means you’re doing something right.”

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