Marcus Rashford can now at least breathe a huge sigh of relief after having scored 16 goals in his last 18 appearances ahead of Manchester United’s Carabao Cup final, which is clearly a stark contrast to the devastatingly torrid run of form he suffered last season. Thankfully for the striker, the ordeal has catalytically spurred the striker on to the most prolific season of his career for the Red Devils.
This would have been the time last year when a totally bereft-of-confidence Rashford was languishing at rock bottom, with just five goals to his name and, to exacerbate things, lost his place in the Three Lions squad. Hit the forward button and a year on, Rashford’s CV now is proudly displaying a career-best haul of 24 goals, including 16 in his last 18 games, and is clearly the man United are looking at to end their abysmal six-year wait for a trophy in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
Ahead of the Wembley Stadium showdown, Rashford opened up on the two-year ordeal he had undergone for nearly two years having sustained a back injury followed by shoulder surgery which sidelined him for a combined seven months – and the physical and mental toll that all this had on him.
“To be honest, I don’t think anyone – apart from the people at the club – knows how long I was dealing with those issues,” said Rashford. “It wasn’t just one season, it was a period of time where every day was tough and you have to just sacrifice.
“I’ve always been one to try and be out on the pitch as much as I possibly can and, for me, that’s where I get the happiness. If I’m out injured, I’m not happy, I’m dealing with the pain and I’m not happy. So I’d rather try and deal with the pain as long as I can perform and still help the team – I’d always choose to do that.”
The striker’s current signature goal celebration of running to the sidelines and pointing to his temple is an acknowledgment of his new-found mental fortitude. Symbolically the celebration has been adopted by a number of sports stars, including Novak Djokovic, as Rashford emphasised the importance of cultivating a strong mentality above all else.
“Football is probably 95 per cent to do with your mentality,” said Rashford.
“Without that side, you’re just playing off ability. At the top level, it’s not enough to win consistently.
“There are a lot of players who have ability, that’s why they play at the top level. But what sets them apart is the mentality. I’ve been on both sides of it and I’m concentrating a lot more on keeping myself in that headspace.”
After Erik ten Hag was appointed last summer, Rashford undertook an intense two-week fitness camp in the US before reporting for pre-season training.
“I’m just in the areas to score goals more consistently,” said Rashford. “It’s something I’ve been working on but in the last few years I feel, even the seasons where I’ve done alright, I could have added another 10 or 15 goals if I was more consistent in those areas.
“The staff are always giving me constant reminders. Just having those reminders, I feel like I’m just drifting into those positions now.”
However, the star is well aware of the fact that even his best form would not exclude him from the exacting standards set by Ten Hag, who unhesitatingly dropped him for the New Year’s Eve trip to Wolves for being late for a team meeting.
Rashford took the hit on the chin well and responded in the best way, coming off the bench to score the winner at Molineux, and said Ten Hag was right to drop him.
“If I was a coach, I’d have done the same,” said Rashford.
“If you don’t have standards in the training ground, how do you expect to go out on the pitch and win consistently? It’s impossible. It’s the same thing as constant reminders about being in the right areas – constant reminders about discipline, however harsh that reminder is.
“For me, it was not starting a game but you have to accept it, you have to move forward. We spoke about it afterwards a little bit, but for me, once he made that decision, you have to respect it.”