RALF RANGNICK is doing everything he can to get Marcus Rashford firing again.
But Manchester United boss Rangnick remains at a loss as to how to transfer the England star’s training form into matches.
Ralf Rangnick vowed to get out-of-form Marcus Rashford firing again
The Man Utd boss admits he has no idea why Rashford isn’t converting training form into matchday goals
He grew so frustrated with the situation last Sunday that he left him out for the derby, rather than play with a recognised striker.
There were no other options up front with Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani injured and Anthony Martial on loan at Sevilla.
So, instead, he played Bruno Fernandes as a false nine — and United got thumped 4-1 by City with Rashford coming on as a sub.
He is likely to be on the bench again today for the visit of Tottenham in a crucial clash in their battle for a top-four spot.
But Rangnick insists he is trying everything to get the best out a player who has managed just FOUR Prem goals this season.
The interim chief said: “I like Marcus as a player. It’s our job to help him and get the best Marcus Rashford that he can be.
“This is my job and I’m putting all my energy and time into achieving that.”
The German cites Jadon Sancho, 21, and 19-year-old Anthony Elanga as examples of what he can achieve with young players.
Ralf Rangnick has insisted Marcus Rashford wants to stay at Man Utd
He said: “What I’m trying to achieve with him is what we did with for example with Anthony, with Jadon, with one or two other youngsters that we have.”
What has left Rangnick scratching his head is how Rash, 24, can perform so well at Carrington, then struggle come match day.
He said: “Marcus is training well, he’s got an abundance of talent, everything you need for a striker. It’s about transforming the training sessions into the games.”
Local-lad Rashford is considering his future after being left out the derby.
But Rangnick defended his amount of game time, saying: “He’s had 13-14 games since I’ve been here now. I don’t think that this is an issue and he never said anything about that.”
Rashford has actually been involved in 16 of the 18 games Rangnick has been in charge of — starting eight of them.
Asked about their heart-to-heart chat, Rangnick revealed: “He said he is still happy and wants to perform at a high level for the club. There was no mention of him not being happy here.”
This will be a key few days in United’s season with a Champions League last-16 clash with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw in the away leg.
United are also a point off fourth-placed Arsenal, who have three games in hand on them. West Ham and Spurs are two points behind United — but Antonio Conte’s side have two games in hand on the Red Devils.
And German Rangnick said: “We are fully aware about the importance of the Spurs game and the game on Tuesday night.
“We had a good week of training, the players are fully aware, the focus was there, the togetherness was there in the training session.
“There are still ten games to play and we are fully aware we have to look after ourselves and not drop any more points.”
