Poor finishing, a major lack of effort and desire, I don't understand why the United fanbase has such big affection for Tony Marshall.
When Manchester United slapped £50 odd million on the table for 19 year old Anthony Martial on the last day of the 2015 summer transfer window my reaction was not an excited one. Normally when your club splashes that sort of cash you've heard of the player before. When you spend that sort of money on a teenager, normally he's being spoken about regularly, is well known to the average football fan and is being linked with all sorts of big clubs.
Instead it was a transfer that reeked of desperation. Obviously the price tag wasn't his fault, and the club had already spent fairly heavily on Depay, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and Darmian but van Persie and Chicharito had been sold, leaving van Gaal with very few options up front.
United had also just had two really poor seasons finishing in 7th and 4th following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. So it could have been potentially more difficult to attract top top players hence the signing of Martial, but they did finish in the Champions League places, which is the standard pre-requisite you hear top players wanting if they're going to change clubs. The signing of Martial felt a bit deflating all things considered.
Despite that he made an instant impact, scoring on his debut vs Liverpool and following that up with another 3 goals in the next 3 games. The United fans wasted no time coming up with a new song for him - "Tony Marshall, came from France..." - and the signing seemed like a masterstroke at the end of his first 6 weeks.
But throughout the whole time he’s been at the club he’s just never taken his game to that next level. He sees himself as a centre forward, yet the fact that van Gaal played Fellini there instead of him at times tells you all you need to know about how well Martial can play that position.
His finishing is poor, the amount of clear cut chances he misses or hits straight at the keeper is frightening for an international forward, you’re more likely to get one worldie strike from him every 12 games. And that’s part of the problem, you can’t rely on him to get the scrappy goals in the 6 yard box which is where the real top strikers earn their corn. It’s not good enough.
Yes he scored 20 goals last season, but that was the one and only time that has happened in his career, and he has just 7 league goals in all competitions this season in 28 appearances. Again, it’s not good enough.
I’ve been saying for years there’s no chance we’ll ever win the league with him playing up front, and it looks like Solskjaer is starting to come round to that way of thinking too. Edinson Cavani has been starting up top more often than not lately and it’s no surprise that the team has looked more dangerous as a result of having a top class focal point leading the line. Martial is a good player to have in the squad but you can’t rely on him.
Perhaps the most infuriating thing for me as a fan is the sheer lack of effort he gives you. The other week in the defeat to Sheffield United gave two perfect examples of that. He gave the ball away in the build up to their winner but instead of busting his nuts to win it back he just sulks and ambles back. Then when we’re chasing an equaliser he just basically stands on the edge of the box looking uninterested, not offering an option to the man on the ball.
Long story short is he doesn’t offer enough, both in terms of effort or goal threat to warrant a place in the team. I’d be happy having him coming off the left but that can only be as a backup to Rashford, who at least gives his all for the team even when he isn’t scoring.
The best thing about him is his song. For the past 4 years the team has been below the level it needs to be, so Martial didn’t look out of place that much. An average player playing alongside other average players. But now we need to be pushing on and competing for titles, and he’s not the striker to help us do that.