After seeing the Manchester United striker denied a goal against Tottenham, former Arsenal player Thierry Henry has told Marcus Rashford ‘power is not always the answer’ to his scoring problems.
With goals from Bruno Fernandes and Fred in the second half, United defeated Spurs 2-0 to move within striking distance of the top four. Erik ten Hag’s team dominated the game.
In the first half, United made 19 shots on goal, and Hugo Lloris had to make many outstanding stops to keep the home team at bay.
In one of those instances, Rashford was denied after being passed through by Fred and striking low and across the goal, but Lloris dived to stop it.
When the 24-year-old cut inside in a similar situation during the second half, the Tottenham goalkeeper once more turned away his shot.
Analyzing Rashford’s first-half effort, Arsenal legend Henry was critical of Rashford for opting for power over finesse, insisting every striker should learn how to ‘freeze’ the goalkeeper before pulling the trigger. He told Amazon Prime:
‘He could have done better, This is what I say when this ball is coming to you, have a look at the goalkeeper to freeze him. Strikers don’t do that often, the ball is coming to you, you know it, you have to look at the goalkeeper to freeze him and he never looked.
‘What you do normally, he just fires low and across. Power is not always the answer.’
Rashford’s second-half effort, in which the England international cut inside his defender in an effort to score, drew criticism from Henry as well. Henry said:
‘You open the ball up, just finish it, ‘Place it down here. Why hard? Side foot, goal, see you later. But it was right at him [the goalkeeper]. But great save from Hugo.’
