Manchester United star Marcus Rashford deserves all the credit for his remarkable, magical transformation, according to manager Erik ten Hag.
The Dutchman has been widely praised for his impact on a player who has now scored 10 times in his last 10 games, and 18 for the season.
Rashford’s form has carried United to the brink of the EFL Cup Final and a fourth round FA Cup tie with Reading, although Ten Hag claims he is no magician.
He joked: “I’m not Harry Potter! It’s just confidence. Every player has to make and get his own confidence.
“Marcus fought for this, he invested in this. Of course with my coaching staff, we bring in structures, especially in the way of play that give him routines that he needs to get into the right position.
“But finally, it’s up to him, to the player. It’s obvious that Marcus at this moment is in really good shape, really good form.
“I think from day to day, from training to training, from game to game, the routines are taking effect.
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Ten Hag may hand a rare start to England defender Harry Maguire on Saturday, despite the £80 million centre-half having started just seven league and cup games all season.
The United manager insisted – contrary to the evidence – that Maguire has not fallen behind Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw in his pecking order but insisted the experienced star must re-establish himself.
He said: “No, he’s not fifth choice. But it’s up to him. I have to say he’s training very well, bringing quality and that is what I expect from all the players in the squad.
“He has to fight for his position and things can change, sometimes also really quickly. I think he is making progress and it’s up to him.”
Ten Hag also said that England winger Jadon Sancho, who has not played since October, is close to a first team return and could even be on the bench tonight.
He said: “He’s on the way back, he’s making steps, he’s back in team training and we have to see when he’s ready to go back into games.”
No Spence for Spurs
Djed Spence could again be absent from the Tottenham squad for Saturday’s FA Cup tie at Preston with the club ready to sanction a loan move this month.
Spence, who has played only six times this season, failed to make the bench for Monday’s win away to Fulham and is expected to temporarily exit Spurs during the final days of the transfer window.
Assistant Cristian Stellini admitted on Friday the full-back had lacked consistency in training but did acknowledge there had been improvements in his game since signing from Middlesbrough last July following an impressive Championship campaign.
He said: “Being consistent without playing so many times is not easy but being consistent in the training is really important for a type of player like Djed.
“This is the area where he can improve a lot. He improve since he is here and he had great improvement but he has to follow like everyone, like Bryan Gil, like Pape Sarr. They improve but the season is going on.
“If you don’t have many chances to play, maybe you need to be consistent in the training. There are also hierarchies in the team so we have to respect some hierarchies.
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“It is not easy when you have a number of players, with more players in the rotation than you can use.
“In that moment, if you want to improve we have young players that go on loan but I repeat I am not the right person to speak (about transfers). I speak in general about all the players, not just Djed Spence.”
Stellini was more positive about the “love” boss Antonio Conte felt at Craven Cottage following a narrow 1-0 win.
It put Spurs to within three points of Newcastle United and Manchester United in joint-third and provided a lift after defeats to the top two earlier in the month.
“Yeah for everyone it is the best moment. A type of manager like Antonio that lives with passion this job, it is important,” Stellini explained.
“It is an important moment, an important reaction but also it is important for the players to feel the support, to feel love, to feel everyone trusts in them. We are a team that works hard and this type of emotion can be a great point.”
Conte has battled with personal tragedy this season with Tottenham fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone dying in October before close friends Sinisa Mihajlovic and Gianluca Vialli passed away in quick succession recently.
Stellini praised the club’s support, adding: “For me, it was a big loss, for Antonio as well.
“What I can say is that we feel a lot of love from the club. We realise that this club is a special club because they were so close with us to give us all the support and that was amazing.”
Harry Kane is set to be part of the Tottenham contingent at Deepdale despite missing two training sessions this week through illness.
Kane needs one more goal to become Spurs’ record goalscorer, surpassing Jimmy Greaves.
Salah’s lowest goal tally
Jurgen Klopp admits Mo Salah is “suffering” from the lack of continuity in Liverpool’s strike force this season.
After years when he was part of a “well-drilled machine” alongside Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, Salah has not been so effective this season, with his Premier League goals tally of seven his lowest ever at this stage of the season since joining the Merseyside club in 2017.
Mane’s departure to Bayern Munich last summer has proved an even bigger blow to Liverpool than expected, while the long-term absences of Firmino, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz – plus an often-changed midfield – have not helped the Egyptian international or the team.
Liverpool are going through a transitional season with the old guard slowly being replaced – and Klopp admits it will take time for Salah – who signed a new long-term contract last summer – to develop the sort of instinctive understanding he enjoyed with Mane and Firmino with new arrivals Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.
Asked if the lack of continuity is effecting Salah, the Liverpool manager said: “Suffering? Of course, it was a well-drilled machine – the front three – everyone was clear what we were doing.
“Offensive work relies on quality but also a lot of information. It is how to work, how to move, obvious information where you create a feeling about where your team-mate is, where you can pass the ball, without even looking sometimes.
“That is not cool but we cannot expect just to be back to our best and win 5-0 and go to the next game, we have to work hard, no one wants to hear it but they have to do it. In two or three weeks we hope to have better options and we can mix it up. If they [the strikers] had all been fit and available we could build something but we couldn’t do that.
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Nunez has blown hot and cold since moving from Benfica last season for a club record fee while January arrival Gakpo’s shooting has been erratic and he has failed to find the net in his first four games.
Klopp believes the Holland international needs to recapture the composure that helped him score in all three of his country’s group games in the World Cup.
“He is a sensational finisher, his shooting from distance is outstanding, but in the games so far he has been in a bit of a rush,” he added. “People say he didn’t score yet but it’s not cool coming into our team at this moment.”
Klopp says his team have to improve “everything” when they return to in-form Brighton in the FA Cup on Sunday a fortnight after a 3-0 League defeat that he described as the worst performance of his entire 1,000-game managerial career.
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