Hidden factors behind loss of form - Sue Smith on football

There are loads of theories – that Rashford is doing too much off the field, he does not want to play for Manchester United, does not like the manager or the tactics – but it could just be that he has lost confidence.

I have heard people talking about how Rashford needs to concentrate more on his game instead of all the work he is doing off the field for under-privileged children but what he is doing is amazing and a passion of his. We should be praising him for that.

I cannot see it having any impact on his football because it is just what he decides to do in his spare time.

Some people think footballers should just play or train, then go home and think about football. We do not let them have a life.

Players need something to take them out of that football bubble. For some it is seeing friends or going to the cinema. Having children or a pet is a release for others and many of us have no idea what is going on in their worklife.

I liked talking to my mates who know nothing about football about baking or the soaps or anything else to get away from that intense environment. Whenever I went away with England, ringing home was so nice because my parents knew about football but I could talk to them about normal things.

When I was left out of England’s 2005 European Championship squad I had played the whole season for Leeds United with plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the foot which limited my training. I had shock therapy, my feet had to be strapped before every game and training session and I slept in a special boot. I wore inner soles but it made other things hurt because my gait was different so I stopped.

There were times when I would get up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet and limp to it my feet were so sore.

I was dropped for a big top-of-the-table game against Sunderland. I had never been dropped for a club game before and it hurt. Even though I knew I was not playing that well, I still thought I could do something to help the team.

The only way to cure it was rest but there is no way I would have wanted to.

When I was dropped for the Euros, I was reading I had been out of form and I just wanted to ring them up and say: “Do you know I’ve been injured all season?”

Rashford just needs to build himself back up to his levels. It will just happen.

There was a point against Aston Villa on Monday where he had the chance to knock the ball past a defender and just go, and the fact he did not looked like a confidence thing.

When I was a little bit injured I would play a safe pass and not be as brave or ambitious but as an attacking player you have to take risks.

The problems for some players might not be physical. I played when my dad was in intensive care in 2001 for four of five months with an abscess on the brain.

I went with England to La Manga for a training camp but my head was not in it. By the time we played Spain a few months later it worked to my advantage because football had gone from the be-all-and-end-all to something I did not actually care about that day, and it took all the pressure off. I scored a hat-trick I dedicated to my dad and it was probably one of my best performances but often it goes the other way.

I did not want everybody knowing what was going on in my personal life and I would certainly not have used it as an excuse if I had played badly.

Footballers are like everyone else, they have personal problems and it is worse for everyone during a pandemic. Your head can be in the wrong place, you might not be sleeping, eating or looking after yourself properly.

There are so many factors that affect a player’s performance, and we do not know what most of them are.