Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Marcus Rashford will benefit from adopting a calmer mentality in front of goal for Manchester.
The 21-year-old striker scored the opening goal of Ole Gunnar’s caretaker tenure at the club to mark his third strike in four games, but Solskjaer insists his advice will ensure the forward improves his conversion rate for the Reds.
Solskjaer scored 126 goals in 366 games during his playing career at Old Trafford and became a firm favourite at the club for his ice-cold finishes.
And while he insists Rashford possesses superior natural attributes to him, there is room for improvement with other aspects of the England international’s game.
“Marcus has got far more than I did in terms of physical attributes, his pace, his strength and striking the ball from outside the box,” he explained ahead of United’s game against Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon. “But maybe I can give him a little bit of the nous that I had inside the box.
“I’m talking about the little moves you make to get free, that little bit of calmness in front of goal.
“Marcus is 21. He is still learning. The most important thing I can see is to just settle him down in front of goal.
“I’ve seen him rush a few finishes. He thinks ‘I’ve got to get a shot off early’ when sometimes you just pass it past the ‘keeper. I always say the goal never moves.”
Jose Mourinho stated goalscoring was a natural quality that could not be taught before he was sacked as United manager earlier this month, but Solskjaer insists that hard graft and studying improved his output at Old Trafford.
“I wasn’t born with it. I studied finishing, I studied goals, I studied movement,” he said.
“I worked on my mentality because that’s key.
“You will always miss chances but you can’t do anything about them once they have gone.
“It’s always about the next chance, you have got to be one step ahead as a striker, to create that space you need. Apart from the ball, space is your best friend as a striker.”