Martial wins Players' Player of the Year

The striker delivered his best campaign yet in front of goal, netting 23 times in 48 appearances to finish as the club's top scorer across all competitions.

 

The Frenchman was handed the no.9 shirt by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last summer – an indication that he would be asked to spearhead the United attack – and has responded superbly to the challenge.

 

And while fans voted for Bruno Fernandes to win the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year prize, Martial's peers have chosen to honour his efforts.

The striker recently spoke to Inside United magazine, and credited Solskjaer's influence on his impressive 2019/20.

 

“I think it's down to the fact that I've enjoyed more game-time,” said Martial. “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. 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 scored 17 times in his debut season with the club, after joining from Monaco in 2015, but was rarely used as a central striker in subsequent years, instead operating primarily from the left flank. 

 

But Solskjaer and the coaching staff have made great efforts to instil the 24-year-old from Les Ulis with the confidence to lead the line, and have been rewarded for their conviction in his talent.

 

Anthony scored in our very first game of the 2019/20 season, against Chelsea, and despite missing two months with injury during the autumn, had posted 10 goals before New Year.

Among that number was a superb solo effort against Partizan Belgrade, a crucial left-footed strike in a 2-1 win over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, and two finishes in the 4-1 destruction of Newcastle United on Boxing Day.

 

In the second half of the season, Martial took it up a notch further. A sublime header in a Premier League away win at Chelsea provided evidence that the France international was adding some of the more traditional qualities of a no.9 to his game, and he delivered further notice of his imagination and close, technical control with an impudent chip against Watford.

He put Manchester City to the sword once more when the sides reconvened for their second league meeting of the season at Old Trafford in March, and, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause in the schedule, he returned at a high level, netting a glorious hat-trick against Sheffield United.

Beautiful strikes against Bournemouth, Southampton and Crystal Palace followed, before he came off the bench to snatch a late winner against LASK – edging him one clear of Marcus Rashford (22) in the club's goalscoring charts.

Anthony also topped our assist-makers table. Alongside Rashford, he set up nine goals for his fellow squad members.

 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently expressed delight at the progress made by his protege: “Anto has made huge strides this season in many aspects of his game. Of course, I like him scoring between the posts, scoring simple goals, because we know he can score 'worldies'.

 

“He’s in the gym a lot and working on his fitness and strength – the coaches have done a fantastic job with him. He’s physically at his best in his career, [and we're] looking forward to seeing him improving [with] more to come.”

 

 

2018/19: Luke Shaw

2017/18: David De Gea

2016/17: Antonio Valencia

2015/16: Chris Smalling

2014/15: David De Gea

2013/14: David De Gea

2012/13: Michael Carrick

2011/12: Antonio Valencia

2010/11: Nani

2009/10: Wayne Rooney

2008/09: Nemanja Vidic