Marcus Rashford was Manchester United’s best player by far last season. In a season that started with back-to-back losses for Erik Ten Hag, who suffered a nightmare start to his Manchester United career, it turned out to be a great one in the end, as United ended up finishing third, above Liverpool, and also with a trophy after beating Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final.
None of these could have happened without Marcus Rashford, who scored 30 goals in all competitions for the club. 17 of those goals came in the Premier League, as he helped United secure a third-place finish. Sadly, the Englishman has struggled this season, and his mother has come out to explain why the former academy player hasn’t completely focused on football this season.
Marcus Rashford’s mother provides grim update
For everyone who saw how incredibly Marcus Rashford performed last season, it’s been a major concern how he seems to have hit rock bottom without any apparent reason. However, his mother has come out to defend her son, citing some personal losses as the reason behind Rashford’s decline this season.
“The Queen awarded him an MBE for his work. After all of this, Marcus worked hard to achieve a new contract at his boyhood club,” Melanie Maynard said in defense of her son. “He loves United. Marcus produced an unbelievable performance last season, scoring 30 goals and 11 assists, to warrant a new contract,” she continued.
“After that, Marcus lost a second very important person in his life, his cousin Nathan, in November after a very good family friend, Garf, had died a year earlier, which set him back a lot. It was a lot for someone so young to deal with,” she added.
Nobody knew this about Rashford’s losses, and this explains a lot of why he seems to lose focus in the middle of games sometimes. He has been heavily criticized in the past few months, especially when he was spotted in Belfast getting drunk before reporting late to training the next morning, just one day before a league game.
Marcus Rashford’s form this season
There’s no denying that Rashford is performing below his usual standards, especially with the level of consistency he showed last season when he bagged 30 goals in all competitions and also created 11 assists for his teammates. This season has been hard for him, and it’s reflected in his on-field performances.
Unlike last season, when he had 41 goal contributions in all competitions, he’s only had 14 this season, with less than two months left in the season. He has played 27 league games this season but has only managed to score seven goals and three assists. He failed to score a single goal in United’s short-lived UCL campaign but managed to get two assists.
However, he has scored in his last two games for United, including a Premier League goal against Everton and an important equalizer in United’s 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup. This may be the turning point in Marcus Rashford’s season, who also earned an England call-up alongside Harry Maguire and youngster Kobbie Mainoo.
Will Marcus Rashford bounce back stronger next season? Tell us what you think in the comments section.
