Lionel Messi makes MLS Newcomer of the Year awards selection, while Marcus Rashford complains at Manchester United
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has been selected for the MLS Newcomer of the Year awards after playing just six matches this season at Inter Miami. The prize is meant for 2023 signees in the league with previous professional football experience.
Nominees are selected by current MLS first-team players, MLS clubs (coaches and technical directors or general managers), and chosen media members. The other two players standing beside Lionel Messi in the selected players’ list are Giorgos Giakoumakis, who plays for Atlanta United, and Eduard Lowen of St. Louis City, SC.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner brought both fame and beauty to the MLS by signing up with Florida-based Inter Miami last season and has shown the reason he was deemed amazing all in the same season. After leading Inter Miami to their first ever Leagues Cup win last season, the player failed to continue the trend after developing a leg injury that kept him on the sidelines for longer than his bosses at Inter Miami, which include David Beckham, would have expected.
The Argentine’s situation is like that of Manchester United’s ace, Marcus Rashford, whose glorious performance last season earned his club the Carabao Cup. The Englishman’s scoring only one goal this season, despite having started all the matches United’s first team played this season except one, stands like a big math problem to many.
Rashford’s relationship with United’s new player, Holjund, is presently under the spotlight, as folks wonder why Rashford opts to find the net instead of passing the ball to the team member sometimes. Though some have interpreted this to be Marcus Rashford’s struggles to redeem himself because he is a costly player, others might argue he might be carrying the weight of getting wins for the club on his shoulders. Coach Erik Ten Hag’s unpopular mismanagement of players could be a reason too, since a player has to concentrate on his own lot in the division of labour to deliver his or her best. Leaks all over the ranks can always be distracting to anyone.
Recently, Rashford pointed out that he hates the wing Ten Hag plays him on.
‘Left is easier to stay in the game, and from when I was young I’ve always wanted to be involved in the game. That’s why I struggle playing centre-forward sometimes because of my patience. You might not touch the ball for 20 minutes, and then your first touch might be an opportunity to score. You have to be mentally switched on,’ the young player explained.
Much is expected of Lionel Messi and Marcus Rashford at their clubs, but not entirely because of their weekly purses. Both are players academy trainees are looking forward to being like during their own careers and are part of the entertainment present in global football.
Manchester United’s supporters seem to have gotten tired of Erik Ten Hag’s obstinacy in retaining Marcus Rashford among his favourites, as was shown by their not protesting whenever the player is exchanged with another player coming from the bench. Ten Hag has given the player so much chance this season to prove to United fans that they could hope in him, but it seems every chance except that which rewarded the club with a goal was a waste.
Every player always gets to the juncture Rashford is standing at now, and coaches have been known to blunder at such times in a way that a sour separation starts processing. Since this English player has been at his lowest before but made a nice return, it is not unwise for Ten Hag to expect nothing less from him in the near future, but a few adjustments might have to be made among the players at the club if much is to be expected of him.