Erik ten Hag explains Anthony Martial value for Manchester United despite goal drought

Despite his recent goal drought, Erik ten Hag has emphasised the importance Anthony Martial has on matches, using the Manchester derby as an example.

Erik ten Hag held his pre-match press conference ahead of the Crystal Palace fixture after his Manchester United side defeated Manchester City 2-1 at Old Trafford in what has been poised as a significant indicator of United’s improvement under the Dutch manager so far.

After it was questioned whether he would be able to start due to fitness reasons on Friday afternoon, Anthony Martial, who has only scored two goals in his last 10 appearances, passed a late fitness test on Saturday morning and was deemed available to start by the Man United medical and training staff.

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“I hope to avoid him getting injured but he was complaining and that’s why he didn’t train in the week (before facing Man City),” Ten Hag said. “We decided and he decided as well (that he was fit enough to start).”

Ten Hag explained that he thought Martial should start the fixture due to the importance of starting the fixture well, on the front foot.

“He begged to start and I knew the start was so important in this game,” explained the manager. “He’s especially really good in pressing, a really big element in our pressing – he did that really well before half-time.”

Unfortunately, Martial was withdrawn at half-time, replaced with Brazilian winger Antony who joined Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes in the front three. Ten Hag confirmed that that substitution was made in order to avoid a future injury.

Read More: Wout Weghorst determined to add goals to Manchester United

“We saw that he wasn’t capable of going 100% and that’s what you need. Also, to avoid injury, that’s why we took him off. But that also had a negative impact on our game after half-time.”

One issue that has plagued Manchester United in recent seasons as been the lack of a consistent goal threat. There have been seasons where the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have scored plenty of goals, and other seasons where they haven’t hit double figures.

Erik ten Hag has looked to change that in the short term, and brought in Dutch striker Wout Weghorst in order to add a new type of threat to United’s forward line, and offer a plan B should it be required for game states where the deadlock cannot be broken.

When asked on if Weghorst could make his debut against Crystal Palace, Ten Hag was coy in his response.

“I have to overthink that, so first settle down this game [City] we have to set the right conclusions, then we will make the clear plan,” he said.