Anthony Martial slammed critics and proved yet again that he was not a panic buy on the transfer deadline day.
Manchester United were in dire need of a striker and in came the French wonder kid who was backed by the wise words of former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.
A true Manchester United fan would say that Martial is worth every penny that the Red Devils have either spent on him or will be spending. But at the end of the day, the question will still hover above a few heads: was paying £36 million for a teenager justified?
As of now, critics would love to say that it was a big gamble taken on behalf of United on the deadline day but on the other hand, they will be forced to opine that it is paying dividends.
Martial, who is being referred to as one of the 'most expensive kid,' kind of made up for the goalless streak of Red Devils skipper Wayne Rooney, who went without scoring in 12 matches of the English Premier League (EPL) in this year.
Van Gaal was wary of the Rooney situation. Rooney was being deployed continously in the No. 10 position, a position that he relishes to play but failed to make an impact in any of the Premier League games this season.
The opponents were also aware of the fact that United's strike player is out of form and they can easily stop him in and around the penalty box from scoring. Then Van Gaal slyly released a force called Martial in the striker's position and asked Rooney, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Memphis Depay and others to back him up with some mouth-watering through balls and passes. They did, and the French wonder kid delivered.
Martial now has four goals from four games that he has played. He could not score in the UEFA Champions League game against PSV Eindhoven; except for that, he has managed to find the back of the net in all the matches.
By now, the defenders of the opponents had an idea of Rooney's weaknesses and strengths but had no clue about this young lad who has taken the English Premier League and other competitions by storm, thereby slowly establishing himself as one of the striking threats.
United are up against Sunderland on Saturday, 26 September. They have lost only one game in the ongoing EPL season so far and that was against Swansea. United boss Van Gaal will be hoping that his players would carry forward the winning momentum into the Premier league and secure the crucial three points to move to a position which will be too close for comfort for table toppers Manchester City.
Martial, if you keep on playing like this, then you have, as rightly opined by someone, all the potential to become a United legend, but at the end of the day, BE GROUNDED!
