Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has quite a few issues to sort out as the season prepares to resume after the World Cup break.
The January transfer window will give him the opportunity to consider adding a backup right-back, a position that has been left vacant since the summer when the manager did not consider Aaron Wan-Bissaka good enough.
And with the sensational departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, the club is in dire need of reinforcements at the top, something the Dutchman himself has admitted.
However, due to the splurge of summer and the notoriously difficult winter window, adding an elite goalscorer will be easier said than done.
United striker search
United’s current options include Marcus Rashford, who is the club’s top scorer this season and will return to Old Trafford with renewed confidence after a brilliant World Cup where he scored three goals despite a lack of playing time.
The other striker that Ten Hag has is Anthony Martial. The Frenchman was close to leaving the club but the arrival of the former Ajax coach changed his position.
After a brilliant pre-season in which he emerged as top scorer, the manager relied on him as a starting striker only for his injury problems to return.
????️| Ten Hag on Anthony Martial: “The first challenge for him is to be available and fit, which he has to be responsible for. But we have to support him in every way we can. We have seen that when he is available he has a massive impact on our play”. #mulive
— utdcrib (@utdcrib) December 11, 2022
Still, his goal-per-minute ratio remains exemplary: 292 minutes, four goals and two assists. And the United manager feels that regardless of any addition, Martial has an important role to play.
“The first challenge for him is to be available and fit, for which he has to be responsible. But we have to support him in whatever way we can,” he remarked.
“We have seen that when he is available he has a great impact on our game,” said the coach at the end of the game.
Martial’s injury problems hold him back
The manager was sympathetic to his injury record but revealed that the Frenchman is happy at United and is desperate to shake off the constant problems and continue and build momentum.
“I think it is, but he was so disappointed that he was unlucky with the injury,” Ten Hag said of Martial’s current happiness.
“In the past maybe it was something he did wrong, I don’t know, but now it was also bad luck and you come in an injury process and now we have to stop the process and we caught him and he gets involved himself. a better position so that he is fit and available. For his game, his development and progress would be great.”
The France international may be a world champion in his day and United and Ten Hag can benefit greatly from his style of play. The only thing stopping the striker is Martial himself. Can he finally reach his potential? Only time will tell.
