PLAYING as Manchester United’s sole striker, Anthony Martial had only one touch inside the Partizan Belgrade area on Thursday night. Fortunately for the Parisian, that touch was a penalty kick which was the difference between the two teams.
It was United’s only attempt on goal in 90 minutes. It was also the first goal United have scored away since August, the first in 392 minutes since Dan James’ excellent strike at Southampton. Sadly, such damning statistics have become the norm at United.
Martial’s penalty, which came after man of the match Brandon Williams was fouled following United’s best build-up play of the match, gave the team their first away win since that magical night in Paris in March. Martial didn’t play particularly well in another mediocre team performance, but then he can be excused for being rusty since he’s been out since August himself. He’s been missed and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went to hug the smiling Martial at the end of the game.
Anthony Martial has been directly involved in a goal in each of his last 4 starts:
⚽️ vs. Chelsea
⚽️ vs. Wolves
️ vs. Crystal Palace
⚽️ vs. PartizanAM9 is back. pic.twitter.com/Yl0p42Uzpi
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 24, 2019
Martial was still smiling as he walked past journalists after the game. He didn’t speak to the media; he’s private and seldom does. He’s also another United player who could improve his English, but while he’s not prolific he has been involved in four goals in his last five games – as many as he managed in his previous 17 appearances.
Martial is rated as one of the best talents in the squad. He wanted to leave in 2018 and Jose Mourinho was happy to sell him but, concerned by the after-effects of Louis van Gaal’s over-zealous purges, United’s scouting department rightly vetoed the decision. Ed Woodward delivered this news to Jose Mourinho.
Who are the members of United’s scouting department, those described as ‘football experts’ by Woodward? They include Jim Lawlor, a Sir Alex man, Marcel Bout, who came in with Van Gaal and Steve Brown, who was recruited under Mourinho. Martial was far too talented in their eyes to let go.
At 23, he is still young with time to improve, yet the situation with Martial is nuanced. He wanted to leave because he was annoyed with his manager. He also looks up to fellow Parisian Paul Pogba – who is continually pushing for a move. So Martial’s main influence is someone who doesn’t want to be at United.
That’s not ideal – little is at United currently, and that’s one factor in why they are a faltering mid-table team – but United shouldn’t let their best assets depart and Pogba is as polite and professional as they come despite wanting away. He’s not taking Martial clubbing, but on the other hand he doesn’t see he has a long-term future at the club.
Martial has all the attributes to become world class. Bayern Munich and Juventus, two of the best recruiting teams in the world, were both interested in him when he wanted to leave last year. It’s a balancing act for United – should they keep someone against their will, or should they hold onto them and wait for their attitude to change. If United dispensed with every player who is dissatisfied or whose form has dropped they’d be fielding a youth team.
It might be time to start playing Anthony Martial as Manchester United's number nine
Sorry, Marcus… pic.twitter.com/voaqk6Y8Ck
— Unibet (@unibet) October 25, 2019
With Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez gone, the best case for Martial is that his time is now – that he should be playing every week, something he hasn’t done since his first season at the club. Marcus Rashford, also in his fifth season in the first team, is playing too much football and scoring too few goals. In the first game against Chelsea – that 4-0 victory which seems so long away – Rashford and Martial combined well.
Martial can lighten the load on Rashford. He can become United’s main striker, a position those who’ve known him well like Eric Abidal always thought he’d play. Abidal, now sporting director at Barça, is a big admirer of Martial. “He can be the same as Thierry Henry, playing left and right on the wings,” Abidal said. “Then he moved to the central role. I see something like this with Martial.”
In a team shorn of stars, Martial has the potential to become one – in the words of his former Monaco teammates Dimitar Berbatov he “is fast and strong, but he can keep his balance while putting others off theirs. That’s really important in football.” The Bulgarian is another Martial fan and opined: “He can be a lot better, he can be a great player.”
Martial has scored more goals than any United player since joining the club for that significant but heavily incentivised £45 million fee in 2014 – 51 in 179 games, 50 of those games as a sub. He’s played a lot too – an average of 44 times per season in just over four years, but he started only 18 league games in each of the last three seasons, a statistic which shows he’s yet to make himself a regular starter in the best United XI. Injury, inexperience and poor form have all contributed, the latter at the end of last season when he was dropped.
It’s chicken and egg with Martial. Imagine how good he could have been playing in a decent side. Martial is popular and his name was sung by some of the 1,500 travelling fans in Belgrade, but he doesn’t always help himself. He was one of United’s best players in the early run of wins under Solskjaer and he earned a new contract, but he was also one of United’s worst players towards the end of last season.
His worst facets were clearly evident – he was ineffective, he didn’t track back (that’s one part of his game which so frustrated during the safety-first policy adopted by Mourinho) and he scored only twice after netting in Solskjaer’s first game at Cardiff. Martial’s best spell came when he scored in five successive league games under Mourinho. The idea of United, let alone an individual, scoring in five successive games right now would be fanciful.
To state the obvious: United need goals and thus they need Martial, the smiling assassin, not his sulky alter ego.
