Soccer
Unai Emery says Marcus Rashford will get all of the support he needs as he bids to return to his best at Aston Villa.
Rashford, who joined Villa on loan with an option to buy from Manchester United last month, has endured a difficult season.
Having fallen out of favour under Ruben Amorim at Old Trafford, Rashford has now linked up with Champions League hopefuls Villa.
Rashford had contributed to 10 goals, scoring seven and assisting three, in 24 appearances for United in all competitions prior to his departure.
But he has already shown signs of looking sharper under Emery, and came off the bench to set up both of Marco Asensio’s goals in Villa’s 2-1 comeback win over Chelsea on Saturday.
“Support him. Help him. Try to [make him] feel comfortable here. Try to get confidence with us,” Emery told Sky Sports when asked what his approach to Rashford has been.
“Try to work. Try to use the skills in our tactical idea. Try as well to be demanding with him, and he’s in this process.
“Of course, he played a fantastic 45 minutes. And really this is the only thing. We want to try to be consistent through him, in our squad and in our way we are going to do [that]. But he’s going to be hopefully very, very important.
“The most important for him is try to feel comfortable here. Try to get confidence. Be here in a good atmosphere with us and this is my objective.”
1 – Since his debut for Aston Villa, Marcus Rashford has created the most big chances in the Premier League (4). He also has the joint-most assists (2) and has made the joint-most dribbles (15). Rejuvenated. pic.twitter.com/tiLPzooeYU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 23, 2025
Since his debut for Villa, Rashford has created the most big chances in the Premier League (four). He has also recorded the joint-most assists (two) and the joint-most dribbles (15).
Rashford also has fine form against Chelsea, particularly on home turf. He has been directly involved in six goals (four goals, two assists) in nine Premier League home games against the Blues.
“Marcus is someone, he can threaten anyone one [versus] one, even one [versus] two, he’s very important for us in the way that he plays, because he gives us something on that left-hand side,” said Rashford’s Villa team-mate Youri Tielemans.
“Every time he got the ball he was dangerous.”
Rashford created three chances in his impressive cameo, with only Chelsea’s Pedro Neto – who started the match – creating more (four).
Read MoreSoccerNews