ANTHONY Martial is an enigma. A proper, head-scratching, puzzling mystery. After almost four full seasons at Manchester United, the jury amongst Red Devils fans and amongst the football world is still out on the Frenchman. The talent is clearly there and has always been there, since a very young age. Yet, the degree of performance is not good enough consistently enough. How can a player be so gifted and so irregular? This is 'The Martial conundrum'.
There is a reason why United spent 80 million euros (including bonuses) on him back on September 1 2015. The amount resulted from the panic of the necessity at the time for the Mancunians to sign an attacking player before the end of the transfer window and Monaco played a blinder in the negotiations. But the fact that they chose to spend all that money on Martial was logical. He was always destined to become the next big thing in French football. All the top clubs were after him as a youngster and then again as a young professional when he was at Lyon and then at Monaco. He was a class apart for his age with skills, pace, composure.
There is also a reason why Ed Woodward has done everything he could to keep the Parisian at the club. Because his talent and his ability is so obvious.
Throwback to the moment Anthony Martial introduced himself on the big stage. Everything about this clip is beautiful. The run. The skill. The finish. The commentary. The celebration. The crowd. Limbs. pic.twitter.com/AuaWMp8fwr
— The Man Utd Way (@TheManUtdWay) January 18, 2019
We have seen moments of pure brilliance from him this season like his brace at Chelsea in December or his superb solo goal at Fulham. He had that incredible run of scoring in five consecutive Premier League matches between October and November, tallying six goals in total in those five games. As a defender, seeing Martial running at you at full pace with the ball is scary. We just have not seen it enough this season, although his stats are not too bad at all: 10 goals and 3 assists in 26 Premier League matches so far this campaign.
Cynics say that he was playing for a new deal at the time of his fantastic run of form. And he got it because he deserved it. He is now under contract until June 2024 and he got a lovely pay rise as well. There was a time under José Mourinho where Martial was not happy, like most of his teammates but he loves Manchester United and playing for the club. Even if he doesn’t always look that happy. He never felt that the Portuguese liked him, valued him or understood him. He had a totally different relationship with Louis Van Gaal for example, who gave him a lot of trust and time. With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it is more like Van Gall than like Mourinho for now…
Let’s not forget that Martial is still only 23 years old! He has already matured a lot and he knows there is more work for him to do on his attitude, his consistency, his focus. He should be decisive with a goal or an assist in pretty much every game. He should be that good. He knows it. There is a lot of frustration around him because he has the talent to be so much better week in and week out.
Anthony Martial working hard in training
@paulsherlock69 pic.twitter.com/bci7OVxG2J
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 29, 2019
Didier Deschamps also lost patience a bit with him because of the discrepancy between his talent and his performances. Martial has only one goal in 18 caps for France. He did not go to the 2018 World Cup won by Deschamps and the French. He played a disappointingly small part in the 2016 Euros campaign but Deschamps called him back for the November and March international breaks because he knows what he is capable of.
So far, Anthony Martial’s career has been full of ups and downs but the signs are there that he can get to the top. When he joined Manchester United from Monaco for an original fee of 50 million euros, there were three clauses included in his contract, each of them worth 10 million euros. The first one would be triggered if he scored 25 goals for United, which he quickly did. The second one would be activated after his 25th cap for France while still at United (he is on 18). The third one was always the most ambitious one but proves how highly rated Martial is. If during his time at Old Trafford he makes it to the three finalists of the Ballon d’Or then MU will pay 10 more millions. He is far from it at the moment and it looks unlikely even if the near future but Anthony Martial could surprise us all.
