Jose Mourinho’s tactics of parking the bus and creating chances via counter-attacks have won him a lot of trophies all over Europe but the same style of play is becoming his Achilles Heel at Manchester United. No doubt that United has a team to challenge for the title but only when their manager allows them to play an attacking style of football. Mourinho has taken a fair lot of criticism in his two-year stay with the Red Devils but is he the only person at fault? No.
Many players have underperformed in his tenure and one of them is Anthony Martial.
The golden boy from France is immensely talented and is one of the gifted players across Europe. Who can forget his debut goal against Liverpool? Dribbling past through a number of players and then rounding up Martin Škrtel to place the ball inside the net. That was a goal a debutant dream to score. He joined United as a teenager in 2015 but has failed to cement his place in the team. Fans and pundits have often supported him by berating Mourinho’s style of play but has he done enough to earn a spot in starting XI?
ANTHONY MARTIAL STATS –
In his 87 Premier League appearances in three seasons, he has scored a mere 24 goals and provided 15 assists. That means his goal per match stands at less than 0.3 which is apparent when one gets to know that he had only 59 shots on target in three years. 11 of those 24 goals came in his first season at Old Trafford.
Last season he made 30 appearances in which scored 9 goals and registered 5 assists. Majority of his goals came before December and eventually faded after the arrival of Alexis Sanchez who became the number one choice for the left-back spot.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR MARTIAL?
The war between Mourinho and Martial seems never-ending. Pre-season tour to the US looked like a great opportunity for the youngster as Lukaku and Rashford were enjoying their holidays. Things turned sour after he decided to leave for France to attend his son’s birth and never returned back to join the pre-season. The CEO of Manchester United, Ed Woodward, has been reluctant to cash-in on the youngster as he considers him a player with great skills and abilities but is his preference forming a rift between him and the manager?
After an injury to Alexis Sanchez, Martial started at the left against Brighton but had a dreadful performance. In his 60-minute stay on the pitch, he made only 20 passes and failed to create any clear-cut chance for his team. He took two shots, one of them was blocked and the other was off-target. Earning a yellow card for a silly foul on the opponent only inflated Mourinho’s fury who rightly decided to sub him off for Marouane Fellaini after an hour mark.
With Sanchez still injured, Martial could get some minutes on the pitch but it’s high time for the lad to perform to his potential and impress his manager by leaving his cavalier attitude behind him which often pulls him down.
( STATS – Premier League )
