Cabral Opiyo

The Anthony Martial Conundrum Hyperbole in modern football is the norm and with fans more exposed to statistics, instant reactions are even more magnified. Before you know it, an opinion from a well followed Twitter user is accepted as fact, an opinion is very easily set in stone as a result. Some believe that he is a Thierry Henry regen come alive again while the other half believes that he is a slow-minded, limited player with too much hype riding on his shoulders. The truth is, Anthony Martial falls somewhere in the middle of those extremes. The Massy born forward has been an attention grabber from the first time he was signed five years ago and plastered on the front of newspapers and termed as a waste of money before he had even landed on the shores of England. For many who had never even heard of him at that point, that conclusive opinion has lingered somewhere in the nooks and crannies of their football minds, always waiting for the inevitable slump of form to ridicule the French forward. A month into his Manchester United career he was named the September premier league player of the month, the third youngest player in the history of the league to receive that honour. A few months later, he was still the talk of more than just the town as he was awarded the now glitzy Golden boy award won by some legendary, some wildly disappointing figures in football. It was only a matter of which side of the fence he would fall on. On evidence of his first season, he seemed to be leaning towards triggering one of the ridiculous clauses in his contract which stated that United would have to pay AS Monaco seven point two million pounds if he won the Balon d’or. The modern football climate favours goal-scoring wide forwards and as he alternated between the wing and centre forward, his end product remained fairly constant for a teenager finishing the season with seventeen goals in all competitions. The end product was a huge bonus but it was the feeling fans got when he had the ball; he was extra slippery and explosive when dribbling from wide left, tying many a defender in knots with his mastery of a football and quick twinkle toes. He was the promised one Old Trafford had always been waiting for and he didn’t disappoint, the seats so rarely sat on whenever he had the ball. That was Manchester 2.0 after the unspeakable reign of David Moyes and Tony Martial, complete with a cheeky chant in his honour was the poster boy and the driver for the new generation of youngsters being blooded by the eccentric Louis Van Gaal. He was the only player given licence to thrill in the rigid system so favoured by the strong willed Dutchman. Some iconic moments resulted; the direct, arrowing, isolation and consequent unmanning of Martin Skrtel and the well placed goal followed by the pulsating, last-minute winner against Everton in the FA cup semi-final come to mind. But as always, the good times never last at Manchester United Post the Godfather of Govan. Mourinho rolled into town and that was almost the beginning of the end for the unanimous pro Martial movement. During the Portuguese’s’ two and a half year reign, there were several ups and downs in the Martial soap opera. From off the pitch infidelity allegations to saving his executioner’s job multiple times. Unfortunately for Martial, he was the French flavoured red herring chosen by Jose during his time at United and alongside Pogba suffered the bipolar fluctuations of his tenure even though they came up trumps for him when his head was on the block several times. For a player with mixed football education during his formative years, Martial did pretty well on the goal-scoring front regularly contributing ten goals a season plus from out wide. Creative, explosive and decisive one on one with the keeper he has regularly featured as one of the most clinical forwards in the league, regularly putting away the chances presented to him. On the other hand, there has been a clear lack of dynamism on his part; he doesn’t run the channels nearly as well as he should, almost always demands the ball to feet and is mostly static whenever Manchester United are in bad form and the incisiveness of passing is reduced. For most part, Martial can be brilliant in moving inside the box to sniff out chances and gets stellar service. His biggest strength being the speed of his football brain and his ability to link up effectively with his teammates in and around the box. He has forged solid partnerships with his strike partners over the years including; Rooney, Lukaku and lately Marcus Rashford & Mason Greenwood. Last season, his first under a manager who believed in his claim to play up front, he managed twenty three goals and twelve assists, and formed a lethal trident with Marcus and Mason where their fluid movement bedazzled defenders and brought a deluge of goals for the trio culminating in a gallop for third place for the trio. It shut the detractors up for the time being but this season has been a whole other kettle of fish for the misfiring forward. A return of two goals in nine appearances, none in the league has brought fresh criticism for the French forward and doomsday calls. Goal droughts are never fun for any striker and he’s feeling the heat from the Antima (Anti-Martial group). An argument can be made that Robin Van Persie had his own ten game drought and Lukaku a nine game stretch, yet this time the Antima won’t be denied, the demand is for a new striker to be brought in and Martial consigned to the scrap heap. Factors like a disjointed attacking structure where his team mates play at least twenty metres away from him, the team chance creation being wanting and a dip in form are never considered in his defence, he is expected to convert the one/two chances he gets in a game. After doing some digging, a few startling facts come to light including various prominent strikers. Twenty five seems to be a decisive age for elite strikers and Martial is on the cusp. Robert Lewandowski left Borussia Dortmund at the age of twenty six; he had 145 goal contributions in 187 appearances or 0.77 goal involvements a game. In the six years since, he has had 321 goal contributions in 310 appearances in a barnstorming Bayern Munich, go figure. Martial has had 117 goal contributions in 230 appearances or 0.51 goal involvements a game as a wide player for the most part with one full season up top. Most United fans consider Dimitar Berbatov’s time at the club a success; he had 83 goal contributions in 149 games or 0.56 goal involvements a game. Martial has had 0.51 playing in a disruptive system with chopping and changing in the managerial hot-seat. Oh, and out wide in case I forget. I researched a few other prolific strikers and fan favourite Robin Van Persie 0.75 goal involvements a game. The reality is, Martial does not compare too shabbily with these heavy hitters considering these were out and out strikers for the most part and playing in wildly superior teams. He has been compared to Thierry Henry; perhaps unfairly as very few strikers will ever measure up to the mercurial Frenchman but the path he trod is scarily similar. Both of Guadeloupian descent; both started off at Co Les Ulis and ended up at Monaco during their formative years the similarities don’t stop there. Both have the explosive dribbling style coming in off the left flank that allows them to destabilise defenders and open up their bodies and shoot across the keeper. Both Martial and Henry were almost not accepted into Clairefontaine due to poor grades but they were and the rest is history. Most crucially, they both started as left wide forwards and ended up playing centre forward. Surprisingly, Henry only had 3 goals during his time at Juventus and completed his first twenty goal season under Wenger’s guidance at the age of twenty four. It’s not an exact science that strikers get better at the age of 25, but there are very few outliers h=who are prolific under that age; Owen and Haaland come to mind. But if ever there was a time for Manchester United to stick with their out of form forward, it is now. He has shown the ability to perform week in week out with consistent end product. Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Martial has found a manager who has faith in his abilities to consistently perform week in, week out, two young forwards in Marcus & Mason whom he enjoys playing with and understand his movements and a fan base that will go to war for him. Most importantly, he turns twenty five in a few days, he’s on the cusp like a fairy tale story and it’s up to him to anoint himself the promised one.