Ten Hag: Martial suits the way I want to play

Friday 11 November 2022 13:30

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has insisted he is happy with the recent form shown by Anthony Martial, following his goal against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup.

Leading the line from minute one against Unai Emery's side, our no.9 was involved heavily throughout his 62-minute cameo, and notched his fourth goal of the season to cancel out Ollie Watkins' opener for the visitors.

The Reds eventually ran out 4-2 winners, thus securing our spot in round four of the competition, and Ten Hag was quick to praise Martial's performance as a whole, insisting the player has a whole range of qualities that benefit the side.

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"Definitely, he plays very well in a lot of aspects of football. I'm happy with that, except his availability [after injury],'' began the boss.

''But I think we also have others – when we played with Marcus Rashford as a no.9, we also had a good part of the game.

''So we have more options [in attack], and we also have Cristiano Ronaldo.''

Despite struggling with injuries at the start of the 2022/23 campaign, the former Monaco forward has enjoyed a strong start to the season in terms of goalscoring.

Martial has found the net four times in just six appearances under Ten Hag's tutelage, and the 26-year-old is also aiding with our link-up play, having already laid on two assists this term.

Ahead of our next Premier League game, at Fulham (Sunday 13 November, 16:30 GMT), the boss expanded on the different array of attacking qualities he feels Martial has in his locker.

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''But, [be] quite clear, in my way of playing I like the type [of player] Antony Martial is, because he can hold the ball,'' added Ten Hag.

''He is a [also] a target, he can link up, but he can also run behind.

''He has speed, he can finish, and he has good pressure [presses well]."

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