Russo wins Players’ Player of the Year award
Alessia Russo has been named Manchester United Women’s Players’ Player of the Year for 2021/22, being selected by her team-mates after an impressive season.
Russo earns the award having returned the best goalscoring haul of her career so far: the 23-year-old scored 11 goals in 30 appearances for the Reds in all competitions.
The England international finished joint-fifth in the Women’s Super League top-scorer list, with nine goals. The versatile forward also accumulated four assists in the WSL this season.
Russo’s other two goals came in the Continental League Cup, including the match-winning strike in the Reds’ quarter-final victory at Arsenal in December.
Our no.23 has garnered praise having bounced back from an injury-hit campaign last term and in March she was named the WSL Player of the Month.
On her way to that award one particular game stands out; our 3-1 success over Everton at Old Trafford. In front of over 20,000 supporters, Alessia led United’s comeback, scoring twice on our way to overturning a 1-0 deficit against the Merseyside club.
In addition to her WSL award, Russo was also named PFA WSL Fans’ Player of the Month back in December, and was nominated for the PFA WSL Fans' Player of the Year prize too.
As reward for her scintillating club form, the 23-year-old has been selected in the provisional 28-player England squad for this summer's delayed European Championship.
Back in April, Reds manager Marc Skinner heaped praise on the forward.
He said: “She’s been great, she’s shown so many qualities. She’s basically developed exactly how we thought she would this season.
“She has all of these qualities that we know she can develop and [we can] help her build on them, but she’s the one that’s doing the hard work.
“It shows the growth she’s had as an individual and I can’t wait to be a part of that next phase of her development.”
Congratulations to Alessia, who is the inaugural winner of United’s Players’ Player of the Year award.
Previously, the coaching staff or the squad voted for the Player of the Year prize, which has so far been won by Katie Zelem, Hayley Ladd and, last season, Ona Batlle.
This year, we're giving supporters the opportunity to have their say with regards to that particular accolade.
So, if you haven't voted yet, what are you waiting for? Take part in the poll above, and keep an eye out for the winners' announcement tomorrow (Tuesday).