This could be the start of something special for Anthony Martial at Manchester United

On 12 September 2015, Anthony Martial made his debut for Manchester United by coming on as a substitute for Juan Mata and scored an unforgettable goal against Liverpool to seal a memorable 3-1 win over the Reds. He continued his dream start to life in a United shirt as he found the back of the net in the next three games as well.

Ahead of his arrival at Old Trafford, Martial grabbed the headlines because of his talent with certain sections of the media also labelling him the new Thierry Henry. In fact, the comparisons between the two Frenchmen were inevitable as they both spent the early days of their career at AS Monaco before moving to the Premier League.

Further, Martial’s tendency to open his body up to finish in front of goal is certainly reminiscent of Henry. But since Martial possibly grew up watching Henry one cannot overlook the fact that he was influenced by his compatriot.

Following an impressive debut season, Martial was expected to move on to greater heights, but that was not to be. A string of underwhelming performances during Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge of the club led to the player’s omission from the team and also cost him a place in France’s World Cup squad.

Things got worse for the prodigy as he struggled to find a way back into United’s first team after reportedly falling out with the Portuguese manager. And he seemed almost certain to leave the club during the recent transfer window with Tottenham Hotspur interested in his services.

However, things have changed dramatically for the attacker in the initial months of the ongoing season as he has now racked up five goals in his last four Premier League games and has been one of United’s best players so far.

United’s loss could be Martial’s gain

Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial have linked up well so far this season.

So how has Martial managed to turn his fortunes around? Well, there could be a number of reasons for this. For starters, Marital could be intent on making a point to the French national selectors who dropped him from the side that eventually won the World Cup in Russia.

Secondly, Mourinho tried his best to sign another winger in the last transfer window with the likes of Gareth Bale and Ivan Perisic both being linked to the club. However, after failing to land his desired targets, the Portuguese manager finally decided to give Martial a run of games this season and the Frenchman has grabbed his opportunity with both hands.

Further, Martial could also be intent on proving his credentials to Mourinho after being singled out for criticism by the manager. Mourinho and Martial’s relationship has often been under the scanner despite both parties claiming to share a good equation. But the way things are going for Martial at this moment, Mourinho could not have asked for more from his player.

If anything, Mourinho should be given credit for the way he has managed the Frenchman as his criticism seems to have brought the best out of the forward. Mourinho’s brutal man-management methods may not go down well with many players, but it certainly has worked wonders for Martial and Luke Shaw so far this season.

The start of something special

After three turbulent years at the club Martial finally seems to be showing why he was so highly rated as a player and why United decide to shell out £58 million on him when he was still a teenager.

That said, Martial probably did not join United at the right time since the club was in a transitional phase when he arrived and still finds themselves in the midst of one to a certain extent. A largely unsuccessful last transfer window and the after-effects of the World Cup led to an inconsistent start to United’s season.

However, there has been an undeniable improvement in their performances of late and Martial has been at the forefront of this change in fortunes. And with trips to Juventus and Manchester City in the coming week, it could be said that both Martial and United are peaking at the right time.

But United’s visits to the Allianz Stadium and to the Etihad Stadium will undoubtedly be two of the toughest games of their season. Though Martial and his club will take their recent good form into these big games, unfavourable results against these two sides will result in a loss of momentum and might be a killer blow to United’s ambitions for the season.

Mourinho recently shrugged off suggestions about United mounting a title challenge and set his side a more realistic target of being in and around the top four by the end of December. Moreover, if United want to achieve their targets for the season they will have to beat the likes of Manchester City in the Premier League and Juventus in the Champions League.

But with the kind of form that Martial is in at the moment he will certainly fancy his chances against both these sides. And if he can continue his fine goal-scoring run against two of the best defences in Europe this could well be the start of something special for Anthony Martial at Manchester United.