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Thursday, July 20, 2017
ZLATAN AND ROONEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPLACED AT UNITED, SAYS RASHFORD.
Marcus Rashford insists he and Romelu Lukaku can fill the void left by the departures of Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, reports The Mirror Sport.
Ibrahimovic was released by Manchester United after suffering a cruciate ligament injury that has ruled him out until December, while Rooney has rejoined boyhood club Everton after 13 years at Old Trafford.
And Rashford, who scored twice in United's 5-2 win over LA Galaxy in the opening game of their US tour, is convinced he and new £75million signing Lukaku can form a strike partnership to ease the loss of two such experienced forwards.
"It's obviously going to be different [without Rooney and Ibrahimovic] but there was a time when they weren't the people they were," said Rashford.
"We have to change and develop to become what they were.
"Wayne just let me get on with it.
If something was going a bit out of line he definitely would have stepped in knowing him as a person.
"I don't think he needed to. He was always there to give me advice if I needed some.
Losing that type of character is difficult but it's football, we have to move on."
Rashford scored 11 goals in 53 appearances last season, including a three-month drought midway through the campaign, as he was forced to play second fiddle to Ibrahimovic.
But the 19-year-old said his difficult first full season at United, where not everything had gone his way, was a valuable experience for him in terms of his development.
"It was a different experience," said Rashford.
"I experienced something I hadn't experienced the year before, but it puts you in good stead for the future.
"It impacts on you quite a lot, how you recover from that. That's what I was looking at.
"It's not the be-all and end-all if I'm not scoring goals.
This season I'll put more pressure on myself to score more and take on more responsibility.
"I think last season the stats are what brought things down.
They're the things you want to try to bring up.
"But they're not the things I was concentrating solely on last season.
Season by season I have different aims and responsibilities to the team.
"This year, hopefully I'll take more responsibility on. That's the aim.
"Maturity is a massive part of how you develop on the pitch.
I think that's been one of the main things for me, I've obviously matured.
It does change your game on the pitch and that's the biggest thing.
"You don't change anything in particular, you just mature naturally.
"There's always pressure playing at United.
I don't think it changes. You put it on yourself more. Year on year, that will only increase.
"The responsibility that I put on myself is the thing that's changed. Fans always expect the best from me, so the pressure doesn't change."
Rashford will be hoping to play some part in United's third pre-season game against Manchester City on Thursday.
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