The stats don't lie, Marcus Rashford is United's real attacking thigh, and we will have to count on him in the Champions League next season

This article was compiled from: theathletic

Written by Dan Sheldon

原标题：Manchester United and Marcus Rashford – a reliance borne out in the numbers

Lead

Manchester United have gone without scoring a goal in three consecutive Premier League games ahead of their game against Brentford, with their last Premier League goal dating back to a game against Leicester City in February. Manchester United have not scored a goal in four consecutive league games since April 1989.

Marcus Rashford, who has been in excellent form this season, stepped up at a crucial moment to keep United from enduring such humiliation for the first time in 34 years.

'He (Marcus) played a really good game," Ten Hag said, "and his ability to protect the ball was really good. He stepped back from the offside position and then we took him as the final finisher and he was back in the box again and that's exactly what we were looking for, so he scored at the right moment. ”

It was the England striker's close-range goal in the first half that helped United avenge Brentford. The Reds lost 4-0 to the Bees in August last year, and that defeat prompted Ten Hag to run a full 13.8km the next day.

To his credit, Ten Hag also accepted the penalty together and since then they have only lost 6 of all their subsequent matches. United's resurgence this season owes much to Marcus Rashford's formwork and his hunger for goals. The Athletic has also put together a detailed analysis of the 25-year-old's stats behind this outstanding season.

36 - Marcus Rashford's goals as a percentage of United's total goals

The England international has scored 15 Premier League goals this season, representing 36 per cent of United's 42 overall league goals this season. In contrast, the B fee, who ranked second in league goals within the team, scored only five.

Marcus Rashford has scored nine league goals since the start of the year, a record no other Premier League player has broken.

"Yes, that's the truth,' Ten Hach said when asked if United were a bit over-reliant on Marcus Rashford, "and we know other players can score too. But as a team, you need to have two players who can guarantee 12 or 15 goals per season. ”

In the Premier League, only Kane (42%), Haaland (39%) and Tony (37%) account for a higher proportion of the team's total Premier League goals than Marcus Rashford.

This season has also proven to be Marcus Rashford's most converted shot in the Premier League.

He contributed 72 shots on goal in the league and scored 15 goals, which made his shot conversion rate just under 21%. This figure is second only to his shot conversion rate (31.3%) in 2015-16, when he made just 11 appearances in 2015-16, contributing 16 shots and scoring five goals.

10 - Number of winning goals

Rashford has shown many times this season that he can handle this tricky situation, which is that he can step up when the team needs him. He continued that performance against Brentford, and his winning goal ensured that United regained the initiative over Tottenham in the race to qualify for next season's Champions League.

Since Wayne Rooney in 2009-10, no United player has scored 10 winning goals in the Premier League.

But Marcus Rashford's goal on Wednesday put him on par with Wayne Rooney in that statistic, further proving the key role he has played throughout the season.

11- League goals scored after the World Cup

When you consider how disappointed Marcus Rashford was when he only came off the bench in England's quarter-final defeat to France, you can get a sense of how amazing his ability to overcome this setback was. Since the World Cup and the resumption of the Premier League, he has scored 11 goals in the Premier League and 20 goals in all competitions.

"His attitude and mentality towards the game has allowed him to improve a lot and at the same time bring a lot of surprises to the team," Ten Hag said last month, "and this positive transformation has allowed him to score a lot of goals and at the same time bring us a lot of wins. I know what he is capable of. We'll also get more people to help him and make him better. ”

If Marcus Rashford scores another goal against Brentford, he will equalise Chelsea's total of 12 goals since the Premier League restart last December. At the same time, he has scored more goals than three Premier League teams combined (since the Premier League re-launched in December): Crystal Palace (nine), Bournemouth (nine) and Southampton (10).

His 11 league goals since the World Cup also put him ahead of Kane (10), Haaland (10), Watkins (9), as well as Arsenal duo Martinelli (8) Leigh and Saka (8). Of Europe's five major leagues, only Napoli's Osmayne has scored 12 more goals than Marcus Rashford.

28- Highest number of goals scored in a single season since the Ferguson era

Marcus Rashford's goal against Brentford was his 28th in all competitions and was United's most in a single season since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013. The other two players with the same number of goals were B Fei in 2020-21 and Ibrahimovic in 2016-17.

Marcus Rashford's goal took 12 fewer games than B Fei (58), while Ibrahimovic was the same as him (46).

11 - Number of touches in the Brentford penalty area

Last August, United were vulnerable against Brentford, where Marcus Rashford had just four touches in the penalty area, as you can see below.

Eight months later, he has scored more than 20 goals. Against Brentford, Marcus Rashford touched the ball a whopping 11 times in the Brentford penalty area (see chart below) and contributed three shots, two of which hit the target. He took on a more threatening position in the game and created more chances for his teammates to pass the ball.

epilogue

If United want to secure a Champions League place next season, they will need Marcus Rashford to continue that form and sense of engagement in the coming games. Ten Hag and his team have come to rely on the striker's contribution in attack.

Marcus Rashford is at the best of his career and will lead the team to continue to march towards his goals for the season.