Anthony Martial was acquired when Louis van Gaal was in charge, with the then Manchester United manager saying the player purchase was made with the next boss (Ryan Giggs) in mind. Obviously, the next manager would not be Giggs but Jose Mourinho, and one has to wonder what might have happened with Martial had it been the other way around.
Obviously, Mourinho is a trophy machine of a manager and a much more accomplished mentor than Giggs, but the Frenchman saw his role and his production severely decline under the Special One.
The disastrous flop that was the Alexis Sanchez acquisition was certainly a set back for Martial as the Chilean was getting in the game ahead of him, despite not actually providing anything. Things turned around for Martial once Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took the reins at Old Trafford.
Combining with fellow young developing star Marcus Rashford, the duo have formed an electric and entertaining pair. It’s led to Martial flourishing once again under Solskjaer.
“I think it’s down to the fact that I’ve enjoyed more game time. I’ve played in practically every game and so I think it’s all about consistency,” Martial said to the club’s official publication, Inside United magazine.
“In previous seasons I haven’t been able to feature as regularly; I’d be on the bench quite a bit and other times I’d be starting, which was quite difficult. Whereas right now I know that the coach has faith in me and I’m confident of starting the next match.”
“So, I’m giving everything I can in order to pay back that trust he has shown.”
Anthony Martial is certainly undroppable now. A relatively unknown to all but football literati when he was acquired from Monaco on 2015 summer transfer window deadline day, Martial has come a long way since then.
It’s easy to understand why he’s drawn so many Thierry Henry comparisons.
“[I’m hungry for all goals] because for me, a goal is a goal. So simply by managing to score more of a simple kind of goal, I know that I’ll score a lot more in total,” Martial continued.
“It’s something that we work on a lot in training and I then try and reproduce that in a match situation.”
United are currently on break, following a run in the UEFA Europa League to tournament semifinals. Training camp is expected to open early next month.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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