Marcus Rashford was on holiday around this time last year and the break was a chance to reset after a mentally draining season.
Manchester United had just endured their worst campaign for decades and Rashford looked like a shadow of his former self, with a section of supporters believing it was time for the academy graduate to move on from Old Trafford.
Rashford contributed just five goals and two assists throughout the 2021-22 season and his omission from the starting team against Manchester City at the Etihad in March 2022 is understood to have prompted him to contemplate his future.
Ralf Rangnick chose two midfielders, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes, to lead the attack in that game and a demoralised Rashford watched from the bench as his teammates chased shadows. The 2021/22 season was dark for Rashford.
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That's why his performances in this campaign have been so impressive. Rashford has enjoyed a spectacular turnaround in fortunes and he finished with 30 goals and 11 assists in all competitions, making it the best season of his career.
Rashford was scorching hot for months of the campaign and he shouldered the burden of scoring the bulk of the team's goals, with his tally in front of goal responsible for 28 per cent of the collective total (108).
The 25-year-old was the first United player since Robin van Persie in 2012/13 to reach the 30-goal mark in a season and he reverted to what established him as a special talent; taking players on without thinking and finishing well.
Rashford scored in six league games that were won by a margin of just a single goal and without him, a stellar, promising first year for Erik ten Hag would have been different. The pair needed each other and they have a great relationship.
Ten Hag's disciplinarian approach has got the best out of the squad and he wasn't afraid to drop Rashford, the team's biggest and sometimes only threat, against Wolves in December because he was late to a pre-match meeting.
Rashford responded by scoring the winning goal off the bench for a 1-0 win at Molineux. He overslept for the aforementioned team meeting, but with Ten Hag in charge, the fire inside of him has been awakened again.
Ten Hag is the perfect manager for the club because, like Sir Alex Ferguson, he views complacency as a disease. He will always demand from his players and with every month of the season, he challenged Rashford to score more.
After Rashford scored his 30th goal of the season against Chelsea, Ten Hag discussed his target for the new campaign and said: "There's a lot of room for improvement in his game. I'm convinced he can score even more.
"When you take, for instance, the last 10 games he didn't score many goals. I think only two or three, so yes he can improve. I am happy from what he did last season to now that he brings himself back.
"We supported him where we could, with the way we play but also in his mental mindset. We are happy with that, but we must push him more. I think he's capable of scoring 40 goals in a season. So for him that's the next step."
The last United player to score 40 goals was Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007/08 and before that, it was Ruud Van Nistelrooy in 2002/03. It takes an outstanding goalscorer to reach that tally and it's an ambitious target for Rashford to aim for next year.
The obvious difference for Rashford will be the increased level of expectation next season. He is bound to receive scrutiny by pundits if he's not amongst the goals by the end of October and how he deals with that remains to be seen.
The challenge next term will be to reproduce his best form and if he can reach 25 goals, that will be an excellent contribution. Rashford should also benefit from the anticipated arrival of a high-quality, natural centre-forward in the summer window.
He'll no longer be the only threat in the team and that weight being lifted off his shoulders could give him more freedom.
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