Erik ten Hag defends under-fire Man Utd forward
By Tom Gott
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has continued his defence of under-fire forward Anthony Martial, insisting the Red Devils play their 'best football' with the Frenchman in the team.
Martial enjoyed a hot start to life under Ten Hag during pre-season and the early weeks of the current campaign, but repeated injuries have limited him to just 17 appearances in all competitions
Many fans have grown frustrated by Martial's continued unavailability but Ten Hag chose to support the Frenchman during Wednesday's press conference, even firing back when questioned over his continued backing.
"You say I defended him but I just point to the stats, the stats tell you the moment he's on the pitch, the time he needs for a goal is really less," said Ten Hag, who referenced Martial's return of seven goals and two assists in 799 minutes this season.
"When he is in the team, I refer to games against Man City and Liverpool, we play our best football and have the best results as a team.
"I see how he contributes to this team."
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Martial has come of the bench in each of United's last three Premier League games but, with Marcus Rashford sidelined for the next few games through injury, Ten Hag confirmed the Frenchman is in line for a return to the starting lineup.
"We don't have to force things, we're careful," the boss stressed.
"The frontline against Brentford and Everton worked really well. Continually we were a threat, difficult to defend for the opponent.
"He is ready to start games but as I said the frontline against Brentford did really well and we decided to continue that against Everton, and they did very well again.
"The advantage was also that we can bring Martial back slowly, in the team, give him minutes, getting used to games at the highest level, higher intensity, but already against Everton he was ready to start the game."
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On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders & Rob Blanchette discuss Marcus Rashford's injury and discuss if Anthony Martial or Jadon Sancho can fill the void he leaves.
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!