Wednesday 28 October 2015 18:54, UK
Anthony Martial is Manchester United's best striker so why is he out wide? It's an issue, writes Adam Bate...
"I think he has been incredible. You can see what a good player he is and he'll be an important player for us from now until the end of the season." - Wayne Rooney, United Review
Wayne Rooney's recent praise of Anthony Martial is exactly what you'd expect of Manchester United's captain. But it ignores the rather pertinent point that it's the skipper himself whose presence as the team's centre-forward is currently preventing the teenager from making an even bigger impact at Old Trafford. The case for change is growing.
It's impressive how Martial has taken on the responsibility of the wide role in recent games, studiously maintaining the width while Juan Mata roams inside on the other flank. United have kept back-to-back clean sheets in the Premier League with Martial on the left and Van Gaal has praised his willingness to listen. This diligence is encouraging.
But the Frenchman was honest enough to admit earlier this month that he prefers to play as a centre-forward and it's easy to see why. He has already scored goals for United in that position and Rooney's struggles offer a revealing comparison. The now 30-year-old has two Premier League goals in 810 minutes of action - and one of those was bundled over the line following Martial's fine work.
It should be the senior men helping Martial. Instead United are worryingly reliant on the youngster. "There was only one attacking player today who could look back on this game and be pleased with his performance - Martial," Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports in reviewing the draw with Manchester City. "Every time the ball comes to him something's going to happen because he's got that pace."
Van Gaal has been open about this need for speed and Martial is the man charged with making things happen. He is averaging almost eight dribbles per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season - more than any other player - and has completed seven of them in each of the last two games against Everton and City. Remarkably, no United player managed that even once last season.
Indeed, were it not for Martial's contribution this term, United would have completed the fewest dribbles of any team in the division. He has added the excitement. The problem for Van Gaal is that this was the role that Memphis Depay was supposed to perform for the team. The manager's deadline day signing cannot cover for everyone.
That being the case, the question Van Gaal must surely be asking himself as a matter of priority is where he can get the best from Martial. Against City, it was frustrating to see him restricted to the flank where even a piece of skill to beat Bacary Sagna would see another defender come across to cover. It limited his threat and Rooney was unable to provide even a hint of it in the middle.
Martial has fared rather better in that central role with his finishing particularly ruthless - scoring with three of his eight shots. The concern would be that he has not had more opportunities in those games but there was a caveat: Rooney had been operating as the No 10. Were Martial's limited number of shots due to a lack of savvy movement or was the captain reluctant to thread passes forwards?
Gary Neville made the point earlier this season that Rooney is not a "safe player" but that's precisely what he has become. "He's not good when he's safe," said Neville in September. "He should be on the half-turn, turning at people. Every time he gets the ball into him, he has to go back." Gone is Rooney the marauder. Even Bastian Schweinsteiger has completed more dribbles than him.
With Manchester United competing on a number of fronts this season and only two points off the top of the Premier League, the situation is far from desperate. But it is bubbling away. And while a striker seems certain to be on the Old Trafford agenda next summer, the unexpected swiftness with which Martial has made the transition has left fans wondering whether the new hero is already here.
Replacement?
That Rooney's replacement could be a player who many - including the man himself - had not heard of until a matter of months ago is extraordinary. But with Ander Herrera offering more energy at the tip of a midfield three and the understandable hope that Memphis's dip is unlikely to last too long, a decision awaits the manager. And the solution would seem inevitable.
