Gary Neville explains his decision to snub Marcus Rashford from his PL Team of the Year
Manchester United legend Gary Neville snubbed Marcus Rashford in favor of Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli in his Premier League Team of the Year.
Both attackers have enjoyed a fruitful season for their respective clubs. Martinelli has scored 15 goals and has provided five assists in 36 Premier League games. Rashford, on the other hand, has scored 16 goals and has provided five assists in 36 league games for Manchester United.
Despite both wingers being in good form, Neville gave the Brazilian the nod ahead of his countryman. Speaking about his pick, the legendary full-back tweeted (via Metro):
"Rashford and Martinelli have almost identical stats. It just came down to the football and combinations I’ve seen from Martinelli and Arsenal’s season with his impact on it."
He further added:
"When choosing a Team of the Season you get stuck on a few positions. My challenges were goalkeeper, left-back, second centre-back to go with Ruben Dias and Rashford or Martinelli on the left. The rest for me were certainties in my mind."
Marcus Rashford has carried Manchester United's attack for the majority of this season. He has scored 29 goals and has provided 11 assists in 53 games across competitions and is the club's top scorer.
Martinelli, meanwhile, has been an equally useful player for the Arsenal team that will finish the season as the Premier League runner-up.
Life coach spoke about Manchester United manager Marcus Rashford's mental resilience
Marcus Rashford had an abysmal 2021-22 season, scoring just five goals in 32 games across competitions. However, despite being counted out by many, he proved his doubters wrong and has had a fruitful 2022-23 campaign for Manchester United.
Life coach Jay Shetty has now lauded the Englishman. He praised Rashford's character and mentality in a season where the 25-year-old has hit the best form of his professional life. Shetty said (via United's official website):
“It takes a lot of resilience to be okay with having a season where everyone's considering you to be failing and making mistakes, to have the grit and resilience to come back from that and to constantly prove yourself week in, week out, when there's that many people talking about you like that."
He added:
“That many eyeballs, that much stress. I think it really requires an inner resolve to say, ‘this is what I'm about, this is what I've been trying to show the whole time, and now I have the support.’"
Marcus Rashford has been one of the main reasons behind the Red Devils looking set to secure a top-four finish this season. They are fourth in the table, three points above Liverpool with a game in hand.