Martial reveals how Solskjaer has helped him become more lethal!
ANTHONY Martial believes consistent starts for United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have given him the confidence to thrive at Old Trafford.
The 24-year-old enjoyed his best campaign in terms of goals in 2019/20, netting 24 times after the Reds boss handed him the No.9 role.
Martial admitted he has been keen to repay Solskjaer’s faith and has the confidence to keep scoring goals under the Norwegian’s stewardship at United.
Asked about why he has improved dramatically after replacing Romelu Lukaku as the club’s first-choice striker, the Frenchman was clear.
He said: “I think it’s down to the fact that I’ve enjoyed more game time.
“I’ve played in practically every game and so I think it’s all about consistency In previous seasons I haven’t been able to feature as regularly. I’d be on the bench quite a bit and other times I’d be starting, which was quite difficult.
“Whereas right now I know that the coach has faith in me and I’m confident of starting the next match.
“So, I’m giving everything I can in order to pay back that trust he has shown.
“[I’m hungry for all goals] because for me, a goal is a goal. So simply by managing to score more of a simple kind of goal, I know that I’ll score a lot more in total.
“It’s something that we work on a lot in training and I then try and reproduce that in a match situation.”
Martial also believes his fitness work has paid dividends in the past season and that hunger for goals is clearly paying off.
“My job, or aim is to score goals,” he
added. “When I don’t have the ball, it’s to be the first defender, meaning I have to press and close down.
“It’s something we work on in training and we’ve also worked hard on my fitness too.
“I’ve put in some great work with the coaching staff and now I just want to make sure I continue in the same vein in order to be even better for next season.”
■ PAUL Ince has questioned United’s decision to sell striker Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan last summer.
“I think what Antonio Conte’s got out of him is a lot more than what (Jose) Mourinho, or Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) got out of him at Manchester United.
“He looks fitter, he looks stronger, he looks at it. Has it (selling Lukaku) benefited Man United?
“I don’t think so, because they still need a man.”