Anthony Martial celebrates after scoring at Old Trafford

Mourinho: How we're getting the best out of Martial

Friday 09 November 2018 15:00

Jose Mourinho insists he never gave up on Anthony Martial, whose sparkling form with Manchester United has earned a much-deserved recall to the France squad for the forthcoming international break.

The forward has scored five goals in our last six matches across all competitions, which led to him being voted our October Player of the Month by fans.

Martial has also earned the supporters’ Man-of-the-Match awards following each of our three previous Premier League games. He was even nominated for the same prize after the midweek win at Juventus, but his winning run was ended by goal-scoring team-mate Juan Mata. 

Anthony hopes to contintue his excellent form in Sunday's Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium and, afterwards, he will join up with Didier Deschamps' world champions for the upcoming Nations League match against the Netherlands, plus a friendly with Uruguay.

Speaking exclusively to our reporter Helen Evans on Friday morning, ahead of this weekend's highly-anticipated Manchester derby, Mourinho was full of praise for the way Martial has applied himself in recent weeks.

The manager also expressed a belief that his treatment of the flourishing no.11 has aided the player's progression in a United shirt.

“I never gave up," Jose explained. "I never gave up my feelings that this was the right way for him, even if he had to go through difficult moments.

“I knew that for him to become a really top player, he needed to overcome some barriers that I put on the road for him. It is up to his talent, because he has phenomenal talent.

“It was just a question of him understanding what a top player is because there is a big difference between a top talent and a top player.”

All the Angles: Martial v Everton Video

All the Angles: Martial v Everton

You've voted Tony's Martial's whipped finish against Everton as our Goal of the Month! All 10 angles are sublime...

BACK ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE

France manager Deschamps has challenged Martial to maintain his brilliant form for United with the national team.

"Anthony has been with the national team for a while now," the former Juventus midfielder said at a press conference on Thursday. "He's experienced both good and bad times, which is also the case for his club.

"What he's currently achieving with Manchester United is closer to what he's able to do regularly. I'm talking about commitment and efficiency in front of goal.

"He's a young player and I hope he is becoming more mature. He has proved that on the pitch by how important he's been for Manchester United for a few weeks already. It's obvious by Jose Mourinho's choice [to start Martial] and what he's doing on the pitch."

Reading this in our app? If not, you might miss some exclusive features not found on ManUtd.com and it's also it's a great way to follow the events from the Etihad Stadium on matchday. Download the Official App now

Team news for the derby

 Article

Jose Mourinho provided an update on his squad ahead of Sunday's big match against Manchester City.

Jose: How we'll approach the derby Video

Jose: How we'll approach the derby

Mourinho began his press conference by discussing our injuries and approach to the Manchester derby...

'We are not a team that gives up' Video

'We are not a team that gives up'

“We are not a team that gives up," said the boss. "We are a team that always finds a way to fight back!"