Anthony Martial, a name that will be a potential threat to the other teams in the English Premier League (EPL) from now onwards, has established himself as one of the feared strikers in the ongoing league.
Martial arrived at Carrington on the transfer deadline day this season and the money that United had paid for him are paying the dividends now. Former United defender Gary Neville has accepted that he did not expect Martial to be as good as this when the latter arrived at the Old Trafford.
"I wouldn't have imagined that he would have had the composure that he's had because his goal-scoring record before he came to Manchester United was 15 goals in 70 games, which doesn't suggest he's got that level of composure. Could he step up from being a 15 in 70 man to a one in two man? Can he get to that level? It's difficult. I never thought he'd even be close to that but he's shown in the first couple of weeks he's got the composure to score goals. There's huge pressure on him, he'll be aware of that, the expectation, the price tag," Neville told reporters.
Martial scored a brace against The Saints on Sunday. Later he was adjudged the Man of the Match. He has now scored three important goals already for the Red Devils and is proving to be a terrific buy for the club who was in dire need of a striker who would have such finishing abilities like the 19-year-old French bloke.
United boss Louis Van Gaal deployed the former Monaco lad right from the start of the game. He played ahead of Wayne Rooney, as the latter took the no. 10 position. At the first half of the hour, United were all over the place and being a fan you could have torn your hair looking at the lacklustre performance.
Martial equalised just before the half time whistle from a through pass by Marcus Rojo and brought back the Red Devils in the game. It was as if he rang a bell and then United players re-grouped and got back their rhythm.
"To be redundant in the game for 30 minutes and then show that composure and class at that moment says a lot about him. He's made a big impression on all of us. He's probably going to have to start 95 per cent of games if he stays fit and I think that it's not ideal but it's a necessity at this point," Neville added.
