The Professional Footballers Association awards have been announced based on last season’s performances.
Perhaps surprisingly, there are no Manchester United players in the senior or the younger age categories.
Despite Marcus Rashford scoring 17 goals and providing five assists, the Englishman was snubbed at the awards, which perhaps truly highlights the perception around some of United’s better players.
The six nominees for the PFA Players’ Player of the Year nominees were: Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Harry Kane.
Perhaps the more frustrating thing was that Haaland and Saka were both included in the youth awards, too. Rashford should have been included, and the reasons are pretty self-explanatory.
Rashford return to form
During the back end of the 2021/2022 season, Rashford was in and out of the team.
Anthony Elanga was starting ahead of the English winger and it was a deserved decision.
At the end of the season, there were even rumours that the English forward, who had just two years left on his contract at that point, was available for transfer.
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PSG were interested according to The Athletic, but Erik ten Hag stood firm.
The Dutchman worked on Rashford’s game and the forward was the club’s best player last season and, purely because of how far he had fallen and how well he performed last season, he should be considered.
Game-changing goals
Another reason, and perhaps the most important, is that Rashford’s goals were often game-changers.
A winner in the Manchester Derby, two goals against Arsenal at Old Trafford and the decisive goal against Liverpool at Old Trafford, just to name a few.
The United academy graduate was a consistent game-changer and turned up when it mattered.
Rashford may well not have had the best season out of the six nominees, but he certainly had a good enough season that warranted a place in the top six – it’s a farce he wasn’t nominated.