Wrighty’s Weekend Wonders: Raheem Sterling bags player of the week again as Marcus Rashford brings back ‘Fergie time’ memories for Manchester United
RAHEEM STERLING continued his improvement under Pep Guardiola as Marcus Rashford kept up Manchester United's perfect Prem start in 'Fergie time'.
Arsenal legend IAN WRIGHT has poured over this weekend’s action and come up with his weekend wonders.
WRIGHTY’S WEEKEND WONDERS
PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND: RAHEEM STERLING
TWO months ago no player was carrying the can for England’s Euro failure more than Raheem Sterling.
Fast forward to the present, and the youngster who found himself a scapegoat for the flop in France has become arguably the star of the early weeks of the season.
Since Guardiola arrived at Manchester City, Sterling has taken off again, and yesterday stole the show in the 3-1 win over West Ham.
His double made it three assists and two goals in four games. To put that it contrast, that’s more than he was involved in over his last 17 games under Manuel Pellegrini.
Under Pep, the confidence is back, the swagger is back and he looks the player City paid £50m for from Liverpool. That’s great for Raheem – and also for England.
MANAGER OF THE WEEKEND: ANTONIO CONTE
THREE games, three wins…and further notice that last season’s great disappointment will not be serving up a repeat this time around.
You have to take your hat off to Antonio Conte for the impact he’s had at Stamford Bridge. If you don’t believe me, just listen to the players.
After strolling to another three points against Burnley, the Chelsea stars were falling over themselves to pay tribute to their new Italian manager.
They were raving about how he’s re-instilled confidence, his motivation, his tactics – and how they cannot drop standards or he’ll haul them off.
With Conte in charge, everyone will be on their toes for the whole 90 minutes. And with the talent they have in the squad, that will surely see them go close this time.
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MOMENT OF THE WEEKEND: MARCUS RASHFORD
THE rest of the league must have had a horrible sense of “here we go again” when Marcus Rashford slid in that late winner for Manchester United at Hull.
Because this was very much a flashback to the days of Sir Alex, and dramatic late winners – something they had the blueprint for when they dominated the game.
Rarely in the last couple of seasons have United pinned down opponents, with wave after wave of attacks, and the feeling that a goal was bound to come.
But at Hull you always felt one was just around the corner, as they continued to pour forward. That’s a sign of how Jose Mourinho is turning everything around there.
We used to joke about the number of points United snatched in Fergie time. If Saturday is anything to go by, we’ll be saying the same about Jose time before long.