3-1 victory over Everton, Manchester United won 7 consecutive victories in all competitions, while successfully advancing to the FA Cup, they also entered the top four in the league as they wished.
One person contributed to Manchester United’s recovery. He is the main striker in the team and the owner of the No. 10 jersey-Rashford.
In the game against Toffee, he scored three goals alone and was elected the best player in the game.
However, the debut of "Master Pull" was not a flash of light. In the past five games, the England international has scored goals. He has also become the first Manchester United player to score goals in 7 consecutive home games since Wayne Rooney.
Last season, the sluggish performance made Rashford besieged on all sides, with waves of criticism and doubts. At the beginning of the season, people were generally pessimistic about Rashford’s prospects, and almost no one was optimistic about the former talent.
worthy of revival.
But now, it turns out that Rashford is by no means mediocre, but is still the devastating frontcourt sword.
regain confidence
Last season, Rashford spent in a muddle. He played 25 times in the league, with only 4 goals and 2 assists. His poor performance and sharp and harsh scolding lingered in Rashford’s heart like a nightmare.
Alan Shearer said of him: "Playing football looks like a chore, he doesn’t seem to like playing football very much."
Carragher criticized him: "I think it has reached the stage where I think he should not appear in the Manchester United starting lineup. His performance this season does not deserve it."
Keane mocked him: "Rashford can learn a lot from Sterling, whether it is from training or from the game, especially in the second half of the game, I hope Rashford will pay attention to Sterling’s performance."
…
The stadium is a double game of physical and psychological. If a player enters the field with confidence, then the natural physical condition can be adjusted to the best. Otherwise, it will not be able to reflect the true level.
This is even more the case for Rashford, an introverted and sensitive boy.
Last season, those waves of criticism completely submerged Rashford’s already fragile confidence, and what followed could only be the bitter fruit of playing worse and worse.
And this season, Rashford has taken on a new look. He is no longer at a loss on the court, but looks full of confidence.
After last night’s game, Keane saw the change in Rashford: "He’s taking responsibility and I hope Rashford is scoring and assisting every week now, obviously he’s playing with confidence.
Will pass you one-on-one."
Keane’s vision is very keen. To judge whether a striker is confident or not, the key is to see whether he dares to challenge the defense, or whether he is timid and seeks stability.
So far this season, Rashford has averaged 1.2 dribbles per game, with a success rate of 45%. In addition, he has won 3.1 confrontations per game, with a success rate of 38%.
And last season?
Rashford averaged 0.9 dribbles per game, with a success rate of 42%, and averaged 2.2 successful confrontations per game, with a success rate of 34%.
The improvement of individual efficiency shows that Rashford is a confident general, daring to surpass others, dare to break through, dare to ride through barriers alone, and kill the defense line. This is what a striker assassin should do.
secure position
The question of where Rashford plays the strongest position has long been a cliché.
At the beginning of this season, Neville once said that Rashford was not cunning enough on the wing, and that he could play the center to give full play to his advantages. Paul Robinson also believed that the reason why Rashford changed was only because he came to the center.
Not a winger in the traditional sense.
Even as early as 2016, Giggs concluded that the most suitable position for Rashford was a center forward.
So, how does Ten Hag answer this difficult problem that has fallen into ashes?
His answer: "In my opinion, the most suitable position for Rashford is the No. 9 position, or the left winger, which is obvious."
When Rashford was in a slump, he was unstable with the ball, and his feet were not working well, Ten Hag did not follow the trend, and simply "learned from each other’s strengths" to push his disciples to the middle, but insisted that Rashford was competent as a winger.
At the beginning of this season, Ten Hag also let Rashford play as a center forward. After the restart of the league, Ten Hag made a firm choice and fixed Rashford at the left winger position.
It is the determination of the position and role on the field that has enhanced Rashford’s on-the-spot stability, and at the same time, his tactical understanding and identity positioning have become clearer.
In fact, Rashford played almost all positions in the frontcourt at Manchester United. Except for the center forward and left winger, during Solskjaer’s time, he tried to play as a shadow forward and also experienced one of the double center forwards.
, Rashford also served as a left and right midfielder.
Since the van Gaal era, Rashford has been in a laboratory, and his position on the field has never been secure.
The free position will lead to "role barriers" for players. Sometimes they can’t figure out their own position on the court, and their responsibilities on the court are relatively vague, which is quite detrimental to the growth of young players.
But now, Rashford has finally come out of the "role barrier". He finally doesn’t have to be an experiment in various positions of the striker. To be able to do this, he really wants to thank Ten Hag for his trust.
midfield enhancement
Last season, the Manchester United midfielder combination of Fred and McTominay was unsatisfactory.
Keane once said bluntly: "Manchester United’s midfielder’s decision-making ability and ball intelligence are not enough, especially Fred and McTominay, they are not good enough, they can’t lead Manchester United back to the highest level. We can see it every week
When it comes to these, they are not good enough!" Another Red Devils star