Paul Scholes recently called the Manchester United side under Louis van Gaal boring to watch. Having notched three consecutive 0-0 draws before limping over the line in a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow, United are clearly struggling to create and score chances. There seems to be an obvious answer to United’s scoring problem that everyone except van Gaal seems to know: Anthony Martial needs to play up front.
Martial made a storming start to life in England, scoring three goals in his first two appearances for United, before going off the boil in recent weeks. In fact, his drop in goal-scoring form has coincided with his move to the left flank, which Louis van Gaal has employed in order to cater for Wayne Rooney through the middle.
While Martial is more than adept at playing along the left wing, his performances certainly have not disappointed United fans; the versatile forward did seem to possess much more potency when he was playing as a recognised striker, though. This is something which Rooney, now at the age of 30, does not seem to have the legs for. Playing off the left flank Martial has, according to Squawka, only managed just five shots at goal with only one of them hitting the net, compared to the 11 shots and four goals when he was operating as a number nine.
Indeed, Martial is struggling for clear cut chances while in the final third when he is pushed out onto the wing by van Gaal. The world’s most expensive teenager looks far from lost in his role on the wing, with the French international boasting an impressive 24 attacks already this term. The statistics prove that Martial is by far United’s most successful dribbler, but amid somewhat of a goal-barren string of form, Martial’s proficiency is being wasted out wide and could be better used to put an end to the club’s netting miseries if moved back into the middle.
Statistics aside, Martial’s importance to United is clear to see by just using your eyes. Alan Pardew duly noted the importance of the Frenchman when he set up his team to nullify the youngster: “We didn’t give Martial an inch today. Not an inch.
It was a big target for us to stop him and we felt that if we could stop him we could stop their creative angle. And when you take into account his age, that’s some recommendation.”
Having Martial out wide makes it a lot easier for teams to quieten him, by always doubling up, so Martial’s impact on games is severely hampered. However, that job is made more complicated if he is playing down the middle where he would have the freedom to drift away from defenders without compromising the team’s shape, as he would when out wide.
His electric pace, trickery and guile have caused nightmares for defenders in the wide positions, so much so that he’s a marked man. Taking that to the front line will, undoubtedly, give United another angle going forward.
Continuing with a 4-2-3-1 formation with a front four of Martial, Juan Mata and either Jesse Lingard or Memphis Depay, with Rooney behind operating in a number 10 role, should surely see an improvement to the team going forward. Martial’s impressive movement and probing runs would stretch opposing defences, allowing more space for the likes of Rooney, Mata, and Bastian Schweinsteiger to create chances for the team, something which Rooney seemingly can’t offer anymore when he is deployed in the central striker role. Rooney’s strengths don’t lie in running the channels.
England’s all-time leading goal-scorer has failed to replicate his scoring touch of years gone by, hitting the back of the net on just two occasions so far this term in the league, despite missing just 90 minutes of Premier League action. The 29-year-old has netted 10+ goals in each of his last 11 top-flight campaigns; however, this season it seems relying on Rooney to score the majority of the United’s goals may no longer be an option and will come to the detriment of the team’s play.
If van Gaal wants the critics such as Paul Scholes, Paul Merson and, most importantly, sections of the United faithful to stop calling his side boring and toothless, he can’t keep playing Martial on the wing. The one player that makes fans get up from their seats needs to be playing his preferred position, it is as simple as that. Only then are the crowd’s chants of “Attack! Attack Attack!” likely to be satisfied.
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