Arriving with a lot of pressure at Manchester United, Anthony Martial seemed unfazed by it all, scoring on his debut against Liverpool and generally having a very impressive first season at Old Trafford.
Then came José Mourinho, and things got a bit tougher, which we’ll just label your standard sophomore slump, because his third season with Red Devils has been very different.
Albeit not a regular starter, Martial has impressed, especially coming off the bench to replace Marcus Rashford, and the 21-year-old is currently the most prolific substitute in Europe.
What does he think about that? He told SFR Sport over the weekend: “I don’t know. Of course it’s good, even if I’d like to be on the pitch from the off. Even if I’m a sub, I play often. I’ve played two of the games in the Champions League.
“I play every other game, so for now it’s going well, but I’m always waiting to play more, and that will happen through my performances”.
With six goals and six assists in 16 appearances, the forward has played well enough to convince Didier Deschamps he was a worthy gamble for France’s upcoming friendlies, a call-up Martial had been waiting for a long time.
He said: “I learnt about it through my dad, because I was getting some physio treatment. I was happy, but I also feel it’s deserved. I’ve given a lot during this start to the season and I’m really happy and we’ll see how it goes.”
Not scared of being labelled a super sub because he’s ‘confident in his ability, and so is the manager [Mourinho]’, the Manchester United winger knows what he has to do to improve.
He explained: “I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I just try and give it my all so I won’t have any regrets come the end of the season. I just need to be more focused, not hold back, give it my all, and that way everything will be fine.”
