Martial awe proves that patience and understanding with strikers can pay dividends

I’VE always thought that young strikers coming into the game have to make an impact quickly to stand any chance at a big club.

For me, it helped just a little that I scored five goals in my first game at Anfield. Or the Premier League’s fastest hat-trick (at the time – thanks a lot, Sadio), or 30-plus goals in each of my first three full seasons. Or… well, you get the picture.

The point is that you have to score goals. If you don’t, almost immediately, the top clubs go out and buy someone who does. And that applies these days more than ever, with the need for success so pressing.

Which is why I’m impressed with Manchester

United for showing patience and common sense with all three of their new-look forward line, despite the pressure to go out and spend to solve what was a big problem for them.

And it shows what can be achieved with a little bit of love and a little bit of understanding from a manager.

Maybe it helps that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was a striker himself.

Anthony Martial is a classic example of that. Under Jose Mourinho (above), he wasn’t given time, he wasn’t given backing and his confidence suffered. He was a young striker with a big price-tag.

But he had the No.9 shirt taken off him, saw people like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku come in to replace him and was shunted out to the wide positions when he did play.

Is it any surprise his confidence was shattered?

What he needed was a run of games and love. Solskjaer has given him that. I’ve always thought there is a top talent in there. It was about coaxing it out. And I think there’s more to come.

He hasn’t finished developing yet, there’s some potential to be released. His movement is good, but he can work on that to find space in the box and get shots off when keepers aren’t expecting them.

What he has now is a settled team where he is the recognised striker, and the belief of his manager.

Mourinho taking the No.9 off him was a ridiculous thing to do. Stupid.

Solskjaer (right, with Martial) gave him the shirt back – and that was a real statement in him. His goals return this season is the repayment of that belief. I’ve probably banged on a bit much in this column about consistency, but I’m a great believer in playing to get rhythm, especially for strikers. They don’t want to be rotated.

That has worked for Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood, too. And it’s even harder for local lads to break through, with the demands for instant success.

When clubs buy players for big money, they are given time to justify the price-tag. Martial is proof of that and fair play to Ed Woodward, who apparently fought for him to be given the chance. But the local lads have to step up straightaway or there’s a scramble for the transfer market.

Greenwood has 17 goals this season, Rashford 22, with both often playing wide. They are outstanding statistics and when you add in Martial’s goals, they are big numbers for a front three.

It is an exciting forward line and I think gives United the edge against Chelsea in today’s FA Cup semi-final.

But it is not Liverpool’s front line. Not yet. They are older, have arrived at the top and been there now for three seasons.

In three years’ time, if Solskjaer keeps developing them, I can see a similar trajectory for these United lads – and that must be a mouthwatering prospect for the fans at Old Trafford.

PEOPLE have told me Mason Greenwood reminds them of my start in professional football. He has hit the ground running in his first season, scored goals and claimed a regular first-team spot. In fact, he has 17 goals, one less than I scored in my first year, so he could match my total (though I hope I’m not being too unkind in pointing out I scored my goals in 34 matches, because I bust by leg!). He’s got that rare ability to strike the ball cleanly, take it early and hit the corners, which I prided myself on. Mason (above) is a fabulous talent and took his chance with both hands, which is refreshing to see. It’s a big achievement to come into the team as an 18-year-old forward at a club as globally dominant as United. The pressure to deliver is enormous. What interests me, though, is where his best position is. It’s nice that people are comparing him to me, in part because I was decent with both feet and scored a lot of goals by seeing angles and shots other strikers didn’t. He wants the ball too, all the time, which I always did. That’s the striker’s mentality. You always think if you get the ball, you can score. You need that mindset, that arrogance. But I was always a centreforward. With Mason, he looks like he suits a modern role of playing outside and then drifting in to get shots off – the role that Mo Salah has perfected. But one of the things that is so exciting about United’s attacking three now is they look like they can play all the positions across the front. That offers versatility and variety… and it’s a defender’s nightmare. Anthony Martial had to wait before he could truly display his goalscoring potential