Mourinho's tough love made me a better player - Rashford

Manchester United player, Marcus Raahford has admitted that he became a better player because of the tough love he got under former manager Jose Mourinho.

Rashford wasn't at his best playing under Mourinho before the Portuguese was sacked in 2018.

Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over at Old Trafford, Rashford who now plays as top 9 has scored 19 goals with the form brought to a stop due to a back injury and the coronavirus pandemic which forced the Premier League to a stop.

"It was tough but I think when you look back on it in five or six years, they're the moments that give you that mental toughness," Rashford told the UTD Podcast.

"As an all-round player I've improved a lot and a lot of it is down to those two years under Jose.

"We had ups and downs. When I look back at it, it was a tough period but definitely a period that made me a better player."

He went on to hail Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the impact he had on his career while the Swede was still at Manchester United.

"His mentality was beyond anything I'd ever played with before," he added. "He didn't care what anyone would say to him or what anyone was saying about him.

"In terms of his mentality he was key to my development, especially when Jose was there because he was someone who had played under him before and he knew you had to be a certain type of way to survive under him."

Rashford who started his career at Manchester United as a center forward also revealed that he prefers to play from the left wing.

"When you are on the left, you can create a lot more things on your own, giving that little bit more to the team," he said.

"Whereas when you are playing up front, sometimes you are isolated and need someone in midfield who can find passes for 90 minutes of a game, so you can disappear in games sometimes as a No.9."