Rashford’s confidence is on the floor because Ten Hag has set him up for failure by forcing him to be the supporting act for Hojlund.
It has always been clear that Rashford is at his best as an LW with a centre-forward that drops deep and creates space for him to run in behind and finish. It is why his best seasons have been with Martial as the 9 (2019/20), followed by Martial and Cavani rotating as 9s (2020/21), and then Martial or Weghorst as 9s (2022/23). It is also no surprise that the introduction of Ronaldo spectacularly destroyed his form, as Ronaldo ended up occupying the spaces that Rashford does and did not drag defenders out of position for Rashford to exploit.
There is no shame in this for Rashford. Even Cristiano was at his devestating best when he had Rooney / Tevez / Benzema playing the supporting act. Mane and Salah were at their devestating best when Firmino was playing the supporting act.
This season Rashford has had to adapt to Hojlund’s instincts, which are to play on the shoulder of the last defender. This means that the space for Rashford is in front of the opposition’s defence rather than behind it. By extension, this forces Rashford to drop deeper, to recieve the ball to feet, to play between the lines where he must be creative or to cross from wide. This is simply not Rashford’s natural game. As a result, Ten Hag is exposing his weaknesses while not facilitating the maximum exploitation of his strengths.
No wonder Rashford’s confidence is on the floor. His instict is to run in behind and be a shoot on sight type of player. The introduction of Hojlund is forcing him to be more creative and to attempt through balls and crosses. Yet there are various times where Rashford does not spot Hojlund’s run and loses the ball. With all of these mistakes piling up, you can see how the accumulative effect culminates in Rashford being afraid to make mistakes and not shooting, often because he is now tasked with being the creator rather than the finisher.
Ultimately, this is down to Ten Hag. No doubt about it, Hojlund is a good player, but his profile and Rashford’s profile do not compliment each-other at all. The only way we can get Rashford and Hojlund firing is Martial (or Sancho) slot in as a false 9 and Hojlund is pushed to the right. In this manner, the creative burden will be lifted off of Rashford and he can exclusively focus on making the most of his strengths (to play on the shoulder of the last defender and to shoot on sight).
But Ten Hag is likely too stubborn for any of this. Rashford’s form will likely continue to dwindle and he will be scapegoated for a manager that is misusing him.