PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: CENTURION PEAKS JUST IN TIME
It was a thrilling weekend of action in the Premier League with a number of eye-catching performances but there was one standout.
Our Player of the Week is …
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Marcus Rashford became the 22nd player to score 100 goals for Manchester United at the weekend and the first at the club since Wayne Rooney in 2009.
His bullet header just on the stroke of half time was enough to see United beat West Ham 1-0 and take Erik ten Hag’s side above Chelsea and into fifth place in the table.
Before this game, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola had proclaimed United as “finally back” and, although it may be slightly too early to definitively announce their return, Rashford himself looks like a man returning to his old ways.
It’s been a fairly troubling couple of seasons for Rashford, with the youngster’s form going off a cliff at the start of 2021.
His well-publicised off-field projects have helped millions of children across the UK but have also been used as a stick to beat Rashford with by certain members of the press and online fans.
“Stick to the football” was a depressingly common refrain from critics at the time, leading to an ever-decreasing spiral of performances on the pitch.
“I was struggling at times with more mental things,” Rashford told Sky Sports after the win over West Ham.
“It wasn’t really my own performance but other things off the pitch. That’s the biggest difference from last season.
“I get that it’s your job to speak about what happens on the pitch but for the players we have to get into the right headspace for every game.
Too often last season, I wasn’t in the right headspace for games. I wasn’t surprised by some of the stuff that was happening.”
It seems now, though, with Rashford’s confidence growing and his manager getting the best out of the forward, that things are peaking just in time for the World Cup in three weeks.
Rashford has already netted seven in 15 appearances so far this term and will be hoping to carry that goalscoring form into England’s upcoming campaign in Qatar.
