Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has expressed his delight at having Anthony Martial back from injury.
Martial started in the Carabao Cup win against Aston Villa and put in an amazing performance that reminded fans what they have been missing in his absence and when Cristiano Ronaldo is on the pitch.
Martial capped his fine showing on Thursday with a goal in the second half after Bruno Fernandes teed up the ball to him on a plate for an easy tap-in.
Speaking to the press ahead of tomorrow’s game against Fulham, Ten Hag was in full praise of the Frenchman who he lauded for his contributions to the team.
Ten Hag said on Martial, “It’s quite clear in my way of playing, I like the type that Anthony Martial is because he can hold the ball, he’s a target, he can link up, he can also run behind, he has speed, he can finish and he’s a good presser.”
“He plays very well in a lot of aspects of football, I’m happy with that, except his availability.”
“But we also have others and we have played with Marcus Rashford as the nine. We also have Cristiano Ronaldo, so we have more options there.”
Ten Hag added on Martial’s recurrent injuries that this is something both the player and the club were looking into to reduce the frequency of the player’s injuries.
He urged the 26-year-old striker to endeavour to stay as fit as possible in an effort to ensure he is a regular feature in the starting attacking trio.
Ten Hag’s Martial comments may prove to be ominous for the struggling Ronaldo.
The manager’s admission that Martial is a player he likes and fits his system like a glove essentially proves what most fans already knew – that Martial is above Ronaldo in the pecking order.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the Portuguese superstar is back and Ten Hag has a decision to make with regard to who leads the line. On current evidence, Martial is the clear favourite and rightly so.
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