Manchester United’s Anthony Martial Disproving Arsene Wenger’s Excuse For Not Signing A Striker
Manchester United’s Anthony Martial is fast becoming a fan favorite in the red half of Manchester. Martial announced himself to the Old Trafford faithful the best way he could with a remarkable debut goal against fierce rivals Liverpool. The French striker has since grabbed a brace and the Man of the Match award for his efforts against Southampton.
3 – Anthony Martial is only the third player to score in both of his first two PL apps for @ManUtd alongside L.Saha & F.Macheda. Exciting.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 20, 2015
Earlier, according to the Telegraph, Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger bemoaned the scarcity of European strikers in the summer transfer market opting not to splash the cash.
“Before, you played in the park where you had to kick the ball up front and you had to fight. A boy of 12 who played against a boy of 16 had to be shrewd and push to get the ball. All those kinds of things have gone. The strikers are South American today. Europe doesn’t produce strikers anymore.”
Wenger continued, “Germany played in Scotland and against Poland with [Mario] Götze up front.”
“He’s a creative midfielder. Before that they played with [Miroslav] Klose who is 36. I don’t think it’s because we [managers] do not want to play with a typical striker but they haven’t got one who’s really convincing at the top level. Spain won the World Cup with basically Cesc Fabregas centre-forward.”
“We cannot now destroy the drainage to create water on the pitches and lift the ball to work on the heading,” said Wenger.
“I think we have to find another way. What I am convinced of is that in the academies we have to specialise the players. There is an age from five to 12 where you have the acquisition of the technical areas.”
In hindsight, Wenger’s declaration was injudicious.
To the annoyance of Arsenal fans, Anthony Martial is making light of compatriot’s comment.
Congratulations, @AnthonyMartial. You voted him today's Man of the Match with 50% of the vote. #mufc pic.twitter.com/UMfovFPvUX
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 20, 2015
Anthony Martial is the sign of attentive scouting and proper risk management from Manchester United. Arsene Wenger prudence may well backfire should Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott fail to repay the faith that the 64-year old manager has shown in his players.
Morgan Schneiderlein is another French signing of Manchester United that represents Arsene Wenger’s flawed transfer policy. Wenger decision to hand Mikel Arteta a new contract rather than signing Schneiderlein has left the Arsenal faithful split, however, Arsenal has already paid the price after an away defeat in Zagreb.
[Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images]
