Manchester United striker Anthony Martial has criticized former managers José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an explosive interview.
Martial’s career at Manchester United has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. He burst onto the scene at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ as the club’s top scorer in all competitions during Louis van Gaal’s tenure, scoring 17 goals despite being just 20 years old.
And it seemed that Martial had finally found his place at number nine during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first full season, when he scored a career-high 23 goals.
However, a difficult second year at the front of the line eventually led to a chain of events that saw Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo walk through the door, and Martial was loaned out to Sevilla.
In an in-depth interview with France Football (via GIVEMESPORT), Martial addressed everything from José Mourinho’s disrespect to playing while injured with Solskjaer, highlighting how difficult his time at United has been throughout the years.
Disrespectful Jose Mourinho
“It started with the story of the jersey number. During the holidays, he [Mourinho] He messaged me to ask if I want to change to number 11, explaining that it’s great because it was worn by Ryan Giggs, a legend of the club.
“I tell him I have the utmost respect for Giggs but I prefer to stay with No.9. When I returned to the club, I see my name with the number 11, the story did not end well. The [Mourinho] he lacked direct respect for me.
“He talked about me in the press, little phrases, a bit like he had done with Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. He likes these little games, but he also knows who he plays with.
“He knows that I am then 20 years old, that if I say something, I will be the one to go through the young man who is disrespectful.
“So I didn’t say anything, it was useless. The following season, I was the best on the team in the first part of the season, he brought me Alexis Sánchez and he hardly played there anymore.
“It’s the World Cup season and it cost me dearly, especially because the France team won [the tournament]. She should have been there.”
Treacherous Solskjaer
“I regularly played injured. People don’t know, I couldn’t get up to speed for four months after the Covid season. The coach tells me that he needs me, so I play.
“But, given my game, if I can’t accelerate, it becomes very difficult anyway. And they set me on fire [criticised by fans]… the coach never bothered to tell the media.
“Obviously, I was definitely injured and when I came back, I was done, I didn’t play anymore.
“I took it very badly, I had a feeling of injustice, they ask you to sacrifice yourself for the team and behind the scenes they fire you. For me, it is almost a betrayal. That’s all I hate. I can be blamed, but not for being fake.”
The above are just excerpts from an extraordinary interview with the highly criticized Anthony Martial. It makes one realize that there is always much more to the story than being portrayed and perhaps as journalists and pundits, the context of the player’s struggles needs to be taken into account as well.
Martial had to wait until the 2019/2020 season to keep his preferred number 9 jersey. His career seemed to be stagnant in recent years, but with Erik ten Hag, things began to look better. The French international had a fantastic pre-season, scoring three goals in five appearances, but suffered a hamstring injury just before the start of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
He made a fantastic comeback with a game-winning assist against Liverpool in the second half, but is now out again with an Achilles tendon injury. Since then, Martial has missed four games, but he is expected to return to full training in the next few days. And the Frenchman believes he has a chance to make the World Cup squad.
