Marcus Rashford praises Jose Mourinho's coaching style

(Dan Tri) - Striker Marcus Rashford revealed that former Man Utd coach Jose Mourinho helped him change his mindset and stop blaming himself when the team doesn't play perfectly, regardless of the win or loss.

Marcus Rashford, who is on loan at Barcelona, ​​shared his insights during a chat with Gary Lineker and Micah Richards on The Rest is Football podcast. When Lineker asked which manager had the most influence at Man Utd, Rashford mentioned Louis Van Gaal, Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He was particularly surprised by Mourinho's unique approach during his tenure between 2016 and 2018.

Rashford is playing for Barcelona on loan from Man Utd (Photo: Getty).

"Yes, all three managers are different, but that's because we've had so many different managers," Rashford said, referring to the 10 managers Man Utd have had since 2013.

The England international added: "It's difficult, I can't compare coaches, but when you're a developing player, when you're young, you learn things that you never knew and no one has ever taught you before.

Like before Mourinho, I've never seen a manager so focused on winning. Van Gaal doesn't focus on winning, he just focuses on winning, but he wants to play a beautiful game. Mourinho doesn't care. You know what I mean? Of course, as long as you win, if you have a choice, he wants you to play well. But if you win, you win. You move on to the next game."

Explaining how Mourinho's methods have proven a welcome change for him, Rashford said: "Mourinho has that attitude. At first, I was confused because throughout my development at Man Utd, everything was about playing a certain way, like winning a certain way. So at first, I was always angry, like today we didn't play well, but we won.

He's a winning coach, so he doesn't bring up points that you know were missed in the previous game because we won. But when we lose, he brings them up again. After about six months, I learned to respect that and then I started to reap the benefits of him as a coach."

Mourinho and Rashford in Man Utd shirt (Photo: Getty).

After months of speculation, Rashford finally left Man Utd, the club he joined as a seven-year-old, for Aston Villa earlier this year. After scoring four goals under Unai Emery, he decided to join Barcelona this summer.

Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim is leading a new chapter at Old Trafford. Man Utd finished 15th last season and were beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.

When asked about what went wrong at his former club, Rashford claimed the Red Devils had deviated from the "principles" set by legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Rashford said: "When Ferguson was there, there were principles not just for the first team but for the whole academy. So you could pick players from 15 years ago and they all understood the principles of playing the Man Utd way.

Any team that has been successful over time has principles that any new manager or player has to adhere to or contribute to. Sometimes Man Utd want to win but overreact. If your direction keeps changing, you can't expect to win the title."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/marcus-rashford-ca-ngoi-phong-cach-huan-luyen-cua-jose-mourinho-20250814145137023.htm