Why Jose Mourinho must tweak his tactics to accommodate Anthony Martial
Manchester United have made a terrible start to the season with two losses and a win. While the 3-2 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion could be termed bizarre, the 3-0 drubbing at Old Trafford against Tottenham Hotspur ensured that criticism came thick and fast for Jose Mourinho.
To say that everything Mourinho has done at Manchester United has backfired, wouldn’t be an understatement. He has been guilty of not making optimum use of the players he has at his disposal. He came under scrutiny for his tactics last season as well but that was overshadowed by the fact that United finished second in the Premier League.
According to Manchester Evening News, Jose Mourinho has refused to elaborate on Anthony Martial’s future after the United board decided to tie the Frenchman to Old Trafford with a long-term contract.
Initially, Mourinho was interested in offloading Martial in the summer transfer window and wanted to acquire the services of Chelsea winger Willian but the deal was not granted by the board (h/t Manchester Evening News). On the other hand, Martial was also eager to seek greener pastures as it was apparent that Mourinho did not want him to be a part of his plans at Old Trafford (h/t Manchester Evening News).
The situation has changed now and the board wants the Frenchman to stay at the club, irrespective of what Mourinho wants (h/t Manchester Evening News). Given United’s woes with scoring goals and their failure to link play effectively in the final third, the manager should try to make use of Martial’s potential.
Martial was signed by Louis Van Gaal for £36million in 2015 and since his arrival, he was a solid future prospect rather than someone who would bring immediate success to the club. However, the Frenchman exceeded all expectations in his first season, as he went on to make 31 appearances in the league and scored 11 goals.
Mourinho’s arrival limited Martial’s first-team opportunities to some extent and the Frenchman was used mostly as a substitute. In the 2016/17 season, the youngster made only 25 appearances in the Premier League, including 7 as a substitute. However, his stats were slightly better last season where he made 30 appearances, out of which 12 were off the bench.
Irregularities in his opportunities to start the games had a negative impact on his consistency. As a result, Martial never proved to be as effective as he was in his first season.
Truth be told, Martial has always been at the receiving end of Mourinho’s wrath. Meanwhile, his style of play has never suited the Frenchman’s free-flowing game. It would be unfair to say that Mourinho must change his tactics to accommodate just one player but the current situation demands a different approach and some experimentation with team dynamics to improve the results.
Martial is not only a player with huge potential but he has the ability to play as a multi-functional forward. Until now, Mourinho has mostly deployed him at the flanks while Romelu Lukaku has been United’s fixed No.9. Although Martial is not a poacher, he does not need the ball to be laid on a platter for him to score goals. He is quite different from Lukaku when it comes to awareness, technique, and finishing. Still only 22, Martial has already shown good balance and solid upper body strength to get past defenders.
Mourinho has already tried a lot of bizarre things this season, with the decision to play Ander Herrera as a makeshift centre-back being the icing on the cake. Well, that clearly did not work in United’s favour but if Mourinho goes into a match with Martial as the No.9, it could prove to be a solution to United’s goalscoring woes.
And to extract the best out of Martial, Mourinho must hand him starts on a regular basis as the Frenchman is more likely to flourish when given a consistent run of games.
Martial’s pace, energy, subtle movement, accurate shooting and immaculate finishing can benefit United in many ways. The Frenchman has the ability to adapt his gameplay to different tactics but he needs to be given a certain amount of freedom in the attacking third to blossom.
That may include either drifting to wider positions to make things happen or dropping a bit deep to link the play. Hence, it is high time that Mourinho gets off his high horse and makes use of the player’s potential to get United back to winning ways.
