He may have enjoyed a sterling debut season at Old Trafford, more than justifying the £36m outlay Manchester United spent on him, but Anthony Martial's sophomore Premier League campaign has so far proven to be a bit of a difficult second album. Like 'Second Coming' was for the Stone Roses, only with a lot less drugs. Hopefully.
However, in recent weeks, Martial has started displaying the kind of form that won him the European Golden Boy award for 2016.
A scintillating display against Middlesbrough was rewarded with a goal during a 2-1 victory and the Frenchman was back among the goals again, yesterday as United cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Reading in the FA Cup third round.
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And Jose Mourinho has now revealed the agreement he has in place with his number 11 regarding playing time, a luxury that has not been afforded to the Frenchman as much as many United fans would have thought at the beginning of the current campaign.
"He played very well against Middlesbrough but because he was not playing for a long time, he and myself felt that 48 hours later against West Ham it was better for him not to start. Today, fresh, and again, very objective.
"Playing against [Chris] Gunter, who is a very good right-back, and he performed very well again."
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United fans will be hoping the arrangement pays dividends, especially with a crucial League Cup semi-final against Hull City and a Premier League fixture with Liverpool on the horizon in the coming weeks.
(H/T 101 Great Goals)
Topics: Anthony Martial, Jose Mourinho, Football, Manchester United
