England manager Thomas Tuchel has warned Marcus Rashford not to waste his potential, the most dangerous word in football, and challenged him to register more goals and assists this season.
The Manchester United academy graduate announced himself as one of the world’s most exciting young players with a prolific start to life as a teenager at Old Trafford. Rashford maintained his status as an undisputed starter and peaked with 30 goals across all competitions in 2022–23 but has struggled to recapture that form over the subsequent three years.
A stormy relationship with Ruben Amorim ultimately forced him out of his boyhood club and he now appears to be rediscovering his clinical edge on loan at Barcelona this season.
However, Tuchel will not be satisfied until Rashford consistently replicates his form on the training pitch in competitive fixtures. “That is the headline for him,” the England boss sighed when the forward’s aspiration for consistency was raised. “To keep on pushing himself to the limit. The limit for him is very, very high. Maybe higher than for others. He has the potential, but potential is a dangerous word with high-level sports.
Tuchel: Rashford Can Be One of the World’s Best
“You have to reach your personal best on a regular basis. It’s not a question of talent, it’s a question of whether he can prove the point at club and international level. Whether he starts for us or comes off the bench he has to constantly prove himself.
“He can be one of the best in the world,” Tuchel enthused. “The quality I see in training, the finishing with both legs and with the head. He is explosive, he is fast, he is strong in the air so where are the limits? There are no limits, but the numbers don’t reach the potential. He needs to push himself into goal involvements. That means goals and assists. He knows that from me.”
Rashford has reportedly set himself the target of racking up between 30 and 40 goal contributions this season. It’s unclear what Tuchel’s bar for success is, but it’s certainly high.
“For the work-rate against the ball I selected him,” the German coach outlined. “And still he had not as many goals and not as many goal involvements as he could have. He creates quite a lot of chances, but for the quality and finishing that we see with training, he just doesn’t score enough. That’s the next step.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Dangerous Word’—Marcus Rashford Receives Warning From England Boss.
