Ruthless Rashford

(Marcus Rashford Image via Eurosport)

Marcus Rashford. 25 goals in 38 games this season. This is the same Marcus Rashford who was struggling to find form and confidence, which resulted in him scoring only 4 goals last season. I remember watching Rashford last year, he wasn’t putting in the effort to help Manchester United, and you could see that he was hurting mentally and physically. Suppose you were to defend Rashford’s poor form last year. In that case, you could argue that in 2020 he had to play through matches with a shoulder injury that was so bad that he had to miss the first three months of last season because he was forced into shoulder surgery. Maybe the surgery affected him somehow physically. The big point that the whole world pinned on Rashford's poor form was the Europa League Final loss in 2021, followed by him missing a penalty in the Euro cup final that same summer in 2021, leading to England losing their first final since 1969. After his penalty miss, Rashford and his two other England teammates, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who also missed their penalties, endured a wave of racist comments online. The racist comments coming from his fans added to Rashford's confidence issues last season. When last season ended, the media said Rashford had to move on from Man United because he would never find his form again and was not committed to the club.

What changed him? Erik Ten Hag has helped Rashford develop into a complete forward since arriving at Man United in June. This year Rashford has scored all types of goals; he has scored headers, dribbling runs past defenders, being in the right place at the right time to tap the ball in, he has scored them all. Before this season, Rashford was known as the player who wanted to dribble past all the defenders and shoot at goal. Now, Rashford picks up the ball and will try to find a pass rather than try to force his way through 5-6 defenders. Don’t get me wrong, he still loves to go on his mazy runs, and when he pulls them off, they are fantastic to watch! Along with Ten Hag, Rashford’s mentality has changed, and we see it whenever he scores a goal and celebrates by pointing to his mind.

(Image of Rashford via Metro UK)

It is clear to the world that Ten Hag has had a very positive influence on him, but we have to give credit to Rashford because to come back from a mentally draining season last year to now being the best player in the world took a lot of hard work on his part to get himself physically fit and mentally ready. Hopefully, Rashford can build on this fantastic season and get better and better in the years to come.