Marcus Rashford's remarkable resurgence on the pitch is completely unrelated to the Manchester United departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, according to club great Andrew Cole.
Rashford scored United's second in Sunday's 2-0 EFL Cup final win over Newcastle United, as the Red Devils ended a trophy drought that stretched back almost six years.
That was his 25th goal of the season across all competitions, already three more than his previous best return for a full campaign, and United still have at least 17 matches to play in 2022-23.
Rashford has looked more confident and threatening all season, but his form has hit new heights since the World Cup – in that time, his 17 goals (all competitions) is five more than any other player from the top five leagues, and he is one of only two (Victor Osimhen, 11) to reach double figures for non-penalty (np) goals (16).
Those come from a np-xG (expected goals) of just 8.0, meaning he is scoring twice as many goals as the average player would expect given the quality of his chances.
Rashford's positive 8.0 np-xG differential since the World Cup considerably exceeds that of every other player from the top five leagues, with James Ward Prowse second on 4.3 (six np goals, 1.7 np-xG).
This is a far cry from Rashford's form last season when his goals frequency of 0.27 per 90 minutes was the worst of his United career – the 0.78 goals every 90 minutes this term is comfortably his best such return.
Given the biggest upturn in Rashford's form has come since the World Cup, some have speculated whether Ronaldo's exit – which was confirmed during Qatar 2022 – has had something to do with it.
But Cole, a treble winner with United in 1999, refuses to accept that, convinced there is a simpler explanation.
He told Stats Perform: "I'm an individual. I'm not going to get involved in the Ronaldo thing because he left. Ronaldo wasn't there 18 months ago when Marcus Rashford was struggling.
"So, because Ronaldo's left now, all of a sudden [there's a perception] it's because he's left. It doesn't make sense for me. When Ronaldo wasn't at the club, Marcus found himself in a bit of form that he couldn't get himself out of, so I'm not having that.
"The [Erik] Ten Hag effect, I think. No doubt, the manager will be believing in him, telling him how good he is. But ultimately, as individuals, he could have taken his eye off the ball a little bit with what he was doing off the field.
"It could have been a little bit of that as well, but to see him in this really fit form now, the way he's playing, I think it's testament to him. For me, personally, it doesn't really matter what anyone else does with you.
"Monday to Friday, once you cross the white line, it's you as an individual, and also Monday to Friday, someone's telling you how great you are.
"If you don't believe how great you are, once you cross the white line, it makes no difference what anyone else tells you because you've got to tell yourself that.
"I'm looking at him now, he seems to be telling himself, 'I'm at that level that I want to be at'. That's why he's playing so well."
But with spells of such form from one individual come questions of dependency, or over reliance.
Since the World Cup, no team across the top five leagues has scored more than United (43), while their average of 2.3 every game sees them rank sixth, which again is commendable given the top five have all played at least six games less than Ten Hag's side.
However, no other United player has scored more than seven goals (all competitions) this season. While Ten Hag has received due praise for inspiring a huge improvement around the club, it is difficult to imagine them being on their current trajectory without Rashford's form.
And Rashford's numbers since the World Cup represent something of an anomaly – relying on him to score double his xG for the rest of the season would be unfair and unlikely.
This concern is not lost on Cole, who during the 1998-99 treble-winning season was one of five United players to score at least 10 goals.
"Do we need that depth? Of course we do, if we look at all the top teams in Europe, they have that depth," he continued.
"And yeah, I would say if [Rashford] did pick up an injury, which naturally I don't want, you're going to turn around say, 'where are the goals going to come from?'
"Because they're not really being spread around the team. Marcus has got a majority of them. Yeah, you might get sporadic [contributions]: Antony might get one in four games or whatever; Casemiro scored [on Sunday]; [Jadon] Sancho is getting himself back and is getting a goal every now and then.
"But if you're going to be challenging for major honours, you've got to have goals coming from all areas, and at this moment time Manchester United are relying on Marcus because he's in that form.
"No doubt they'll look to address that problem [a lack of goals elsewhere] in the summer."
Gary Lineker congratulates Everton but ‘gutted’ as Leicester suffer relegation
Gary Lineker has congratulated Everton after his former club survived in the Premier League at the expense of his boyhood team Leicester.
The two clubs had been in jeopardy heading into the final round of fixtures on Sunday but ultimately Everton’s 1-0 victory over Bournemouth ensured they avoided the drop.
At one stage it looked as though it could be the Foxes who stayed up as they took an early lead against West Ham but their eventual 2-1 win was rendered academic by Everton’s result.
The Toffees ended the season in 17th place, two points ahead of Leicester, while Leeds were also relegated after a 4-1 loss to Tottenham.
Former England striker Lineker, who began his career at Leicester before spending a season at Everton in the mid-1980s, tweeted: “Absolutely gutted, but glad it’s Everton. Have a lot of love for that great football club. Congratulations.”
Leicester’s relegation comes seven years after they were crowned Premier League champions and just two years after they won the FA Cup.
Lineker added: “A word on Leicester. If eight years ago, you’d have given me the option of winning the Premier League and the FA Cup and then get relegated, I’d have snapped your hand off. Also I’d have told you not to be so utterly ridiculous.”
It has been a dismal season for Leicester and TV pundit Roy Keane was not sure how quickly they could recover.
The former Manchester United midfielder said on Sky Sports: “They didn’t seem to get any momentum into the season from a bad start. It’s no surprise to see them where they are.
“Clubs can bounce back but it isn’t easy. I think it is a rebuilding job at Leicester.”
Leeds’ three-year stint in the Premier League ended in a whimper as they were thrashed by Spurs at Elland Road.
The club had brought in Sam Allardyce in a last-ditch attempt to escape relegation with four games remaining but the former England boss was unable to engineer a recovery.
The team collected just one point from Allardyce’s games and finished in 19th position, five points behind Everton.
Keane was scathing of their performances.
He said: “They’ve looked weak over the last month or two, even with Sam coming in.
“They were fighting for their lives today and conceded four goals at home. That’s nowhere near good enough.
“Sam obviously came in too late. Defensively they look so weak. Some of the goals – it’s almost pub team defending.
“Not strong enough mentally, that desire – nowhere near good enough.”
Chelsea, meanwhile, aimed a parting shot at Leeds on social media.
Rivalry between those two clubs dates back to some hard-fought clashes in the 1960s and 70s.
In August, Leeds trolled Chelsea on Twitter during their 3-0 victory over the London club.
In that game, Chelsea tweeted the Blues were “starting to assert ourselves” just moments before Leeds opened the scoring and quickly followed with a second goal.
“Life comes at you fast!” Leeds tweeted in reply.
Now, nine months later, Chelsea have got their own back.
“It certainly does,” they tweeted.
Sir Elton John sends well-wishes as Jeff Stelling signs off from Soccer Saturday
Jeff Stelling revealed singer Sir Elton John was among his well-wishers this week as the presenter signed off from the “best job that anybody could possibly have wished for” at Soccer Saturday.
Stelling announced last month his intention to stand down as anchor of the Sky Sports programme after almost 30 years and earmarked the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday as his last show.
In the days leading up to his swansong, Stelling divulged he had messages of support from the likes of Gordon Strachan and Neil Warnock, plus a phone call from John, former chairman and director of Watford.
Stelling, an unapologetic Hartlepool fan who frequently celebrated their goals on Soccer Saturday, said: “Somebody asked me the other day if I’d ever been starstruck and yeah, I was starstruck when Elton John rang me at home to say ‘Thank you very much for all you’ve done’.
“He said ‘Every week I watch the show and every week you tell me Watford are losing and every week you tell me Hartlepool are losing so I feel like we’re kindred spirits’. There’s something in that, isn’t there?”
After touching tributes from colleagues past and present in a video montage, Stelling was given a standing ovation by the punditry panel of Paul Merson, Clinton Morrison, Kris Boyd and Michael Dawson.
Stelling, who had planned to quit last year before reversing that decision, briefly hid his emotions with a mask of himself and quipped: “This is tricky because I’ve changed my mind – just kidding.
“I haven’t changed my mind this time.”
Stelling was clearly moved by the highlights package Sky televised in the final minutes of the show after Everton retained their top-flight status and confirmed the relegations of Leeds and Leicester.
Merson, Alan Mullery, Frank McLintock, Clive Allen, Charlie Nicholas, Phil Thompson and Matt Le Tissier passed on their congratulations, as did Chris Kamara, who in a nod to the catchphrase that has become synonymous with the pair and the show, said: “You are unbelievable, Jeff!”
Stelling looked back fondly on his 30-plus years with Sky, in which he not only covered football but live snooker, darts, greyhound racing, pool and thanked everyone with whom he had worked.
In his farewell monologue, he added: “It’s been the best job that anybody could possibly have wished for. My wife takes great pleasure in saying ‘You are the luckiest man ever to take a breath’ and you know what? I don’t tell her this often but she’s right.
“The principle success of Soccer Saturday is you lot at home, who have given us unswerving support – both for the programme and for me personally.
“So that’s it. Soccer Saturday will be back next season. I’ll be watching – when Hartlepool are not playing. From me, goodbye.”
Espanyol suffer LaLiga relegation after dramatic Valencia draw
Espanyol were relegated from LaLiga after a dramatic draw with fellow strugglers Valencia on Sunday.
Luis Garcia's side will not be playing top-flight football next term after Samuel Lino's 93rd-minute goal snatched a 2-2 draw for Valencia, sending Espanyol down.
The White and Blues will join already relegated Elche in dropping down to the Segunda Division, while a host of other teams, including Real Valladolid, Celta Vigo, Almeria and Valencia, remain in danger.
Valladolid are in 18th place with one game remaining, one point behind Celta and Almeria, and two points adrift of Valencia, Getafe and Cadiz in a congested battle for survival.
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