Erik ten Hag told Man United outcast has ‘had more than enough time’ to prove his quality

Manchester United forward Anthony Martial has started two of the opening four Premier League games of the season for Erik ten Hag’s side.

After recently recovering from an injury, Martial made his return to the side off the bench in the 2-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur last month.

He would then go onto start in consecutive games against Nottingham Forest and Arsenal. In neither match did he particularly stand out.

In fact, it was when Martial was replaced by the debuting Rasmus Hojlund at The Emirates that Ten Hag’s side looked like they were getting the most out of their centre-forward.

It was then surprising to see the Dutch manager praise the Frenchman for his performance after the game. His injury troubles simply look to have had too much of an impact on how he plays, at least right now.

But Andy Cole, who led the line for United between 1995 and 2001, believes the club’s current no.9 has had his time to impress at Old Trafford.

“Erik ten Hag said he believed that Martial played well against Arsenal. He’s been at Manchester United for eight years, but have we ever seen the best of him? He’s 27 years old now and I ask myself if we’ve ever seen the best of him?” said Cole in an interview with BetFred.

“Players are very, very touchy now and they get upset if you don’t say nice things about them but back in my day, I just wanted to prove people wrong. Martial has been at Manchester United for eight years now and he hasn’t even scored 100 goals. Wow. He’s a centre-forward for Manchester United and he’s played in some fantastic teams.

“So for me, he had to be getting at least twenty goals a season and his best return in the league was 17 goals in the 2019/20 season. I think now they’re going to have to give Rasmus Højlund a good run at it because he offers something different and can be afforded more time. 

“Martial’s had more than enough time and opportunities to show Manchester United just how good he is and he’s unfortunately not been able to achieve that. If he’s left out of the team now, then I don’t believe the supporters will be surprised.”