Manchester United trio claim Premier League awards for February
Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag, David De Gea and Marcus Rashford have each been awarded with Premier League accolades for their contributions to their club for the month of February.
Ten Hag impressively claimed his second Manager of the Month award in his debut season in English football, whilst Rashford couped what is his third Player of the Month award of the 2022/23 campaign, with De Gea earning himself the Save of the Month award to complete a treble that is telling of The Reds’ good form in the shortest month of the calendar year.
Ten Hag pipped fellow managers Antonio Conte and Marco Silva of Tottenham and Fulham respectively to win the award. It comes off the back of an unbeaten month in February.
Following a victory at home to Crystal Palace at the start of the month, United battled from 2-0 down to earn a point against a spirited Leeds United side at Old Trafford. After that was another clash against Leeds, this time at Elland Road, where goals from Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho helped topple the Yorkshiremen late on. A 3-0 triumph over Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City at The Theatre of Dreams ended a productive month of league football for United, who also dumped Barcelona out of the Europa League and won the Carabao Cup in that time.
It was a month worthy of an award in the eyes of many for Ten Hag, who posed proudly alongside the likes of assistant managers Steve McClaren and Mitchell van de Gaag in the group photo, alongside other members of the coaching staff who are regularly praised by the Dutch manager.
De Gea picked up what is his first Save of the Month award, which is a new accolade introduced at the start of the 2022/23 season. The Spanish stopper earned the award for denying Kelechi Iheanacho by clawing out his header at full stretch in the victory over Leicester. It was a top save from a top keeper, with The Foxes having a good spell of pressure and momentum in that period of the game on Sunday 19th February.
As pointed out on the official Manchester United app, United have become the first club to achieve a triple header of Premier League awards, given that the Save of the Month award is new this campaign.
Rashford’s Player of the Month award is the third of the treble. The Englishman scored once against Crystal Palace at home and once in each of the back-to-back fixtures against Leeds, as well as scoring a double against Leicester to finish February with five goals in four league games. He also bagged in the cup final against Newcastle United in the final match of February.
The forward told club media: “It’s obviously a great feeling.
“I feel like I am still pushing and working towards the best version of me. I know I have to do that with my team and I can’t win these awards without my teammates, as I have said before.
“Big thank you to my teammates, to the staff and to the people who voted”.
Quickly addressing the elephant in the room- of course the feeling is currently bittersweet after the annihilation at Anfield last Sunday, but it is important to keep sight of the progress that is happening at United. The manager, players and fans are best treating the heavy loss as a blip. Victory over Real Betis in the Europa League on Thursday night was a reminder of what United are capable of as The Reds got back on track in their hunt for more silverware this season.
Onwards and upwards, and a big congratulations to Ten Hag, De Gea and Rashford for doing the club proud.
