Michael Owen tells Marcus Rashford his old trick that will get Man Utd fans loving him again

Marcus Rashford has been struggling to recreate the form he showed in the 2022/23 season, but the Manchester United forward has now received valuable advice from Michael Owen

Michael Owen has urged Marcus Rashford "start loving yourself more" in order to get the magic back in his game.

Rashford, 26, is still trying to rediscover the red-hot form he displayed for Manchester United during their 2022/23 campaign, where he netted a whopping 30 goals across all competitions.

The England international has scored three goals in eight games this season. However, two of them came in the 7-0 rout of Barnsley in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

His sole Premier League goal this season against Southampton is the only one he's achieved in his last 11 top-flight games. Owen - a Premier League winner with the Red Devils - had some choice advice for Rashford when speaking exclusively to Mirror Football, via AceOdds.

"There are so many little wins in life that you can use to make yourself feel better about yourself, to make your team-mates love you even more, to make your fans love you and there are little wins that are so easy to do," the former United and England goalscorer said.

"If I was not in a massively confident mood, I would close people down, I would sprint and try to block clearances, and I would work as hard as I could because one in 10 you might get a block when someone's trying to knock the ball down the line and the ball goes out for a throw-in.

"In many respects, it's not going to win you the game, but there'll be a couple of thousand people that get off the seat and clap you and chant your name. You will feel better about yourself for just blocking a pass that was going up or just putting in a sprint to try to prevent something."

It's doing the tough work that'll lead to the goals and assists, according to Owen, who said earning those little wins on the pitch will see him regain the Old Trafford crowd's trust and support. But Rashford also needs to work on his own self-confidence.

"Those little moments, the crowd starts loving you for it," the Three Lions great said. "You start loving yourself a little bit more. Your team-mates think, 'wow, look at him working a bit harder'. And all of a sudden, you're feeling so different about yourself and the magic just comes naturally because that's what you've been given.

"But without doing the hard yards, without getting your team-mates, your fans, yourself on board, building your own self-esteem, if you think that you're just going to keep rolling out there and one of these days you're going to do a step over and you'll go past someone and curl it in the top corner, it just doesn't happen. It won't happen without building a foundation for your game."

Owen admits Rashford looks "devoid of confidence", and the former Real Madrid striker has told him: "Forget the goals, forget the assists, they will come naturally. You need to build your foundation back up. I've just given one example. There are a million different things that you can build that foundation by doing that don't need skill, don't need talent."

Rashford will hope to claim his first Old Trafford goal in the league this season when United host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday (September 29).

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