Louis Van Gaal Warned over Anthony Martial, Alan Shearer Wants Wayne Rooney Rest

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew says the secret to keeping Manchester United quiet is ensuring mercurial French forward Anthony Martial does not find space to threaten.

And the former Newcastle manager warned Louis van Gaal he'll have to work hard to ensure the young talent doesn't lose his enthusiasm.

The Eagles boss watched on as his side held Van Gaal’s men to a drab 0-0 stalemate at Selhurst Park on Saturday, with chances few and far between for the visitors.

Martial failed to make an impact on the game from his position on the left wing after Pardew set his team out to limit the Frenchman’s involvement, and the Selhurst Park manager has warned his Dutch counterpart many teams will be looking to do the same, as reported by Jonny Singer of the Daily Mail:

“With such a young player, he'll have to be very, very careful, the Manchester United manager, to keep his exuberance there. Because we're all looking to stop him.”

Martial has been something of a revelation since making his big-money switch to Old Trafford in the summer, yet the 19-year-old was hounded with every touch of the ball at Palace and simply ran out of ideas.

And while Pardew was quick to laud just how big a compliment that is to the young forward, he explained that his game plan worked perfectly:

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We didn't give Martial an inch today. Not an inch.

It was a big target for us to stop him and we felt that if we could stop him we could stop their creative angle. And when you take into account his age, that's some recommendation.

I have to say that he's an impressive young player. I think he handled himself very well today, because he would have felt our presence around him, and still he had moments in the game.

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Such moments didn’t amount to anything, though, with team-mates Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Wayne Rooney also firing blanks in front of goal.

A cutting edge has been worryingly lacking from United’s play for some time, too, and Palace midfielder Yohan Cabaye said he remembers the Red Devils being a much more dangerous prospect in his Newcastle United days, per Singer for the Daily Mail:

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I remember I played against Manchester United for Newcastle they could score at every moment in a game. Here they did not have the big chances to score.

Yes, they are a big club and yes, they can keep the ball—passes, passes, passes—but if you work hard against them and stay in a good shape they can't do anything to pass through you or be adventurous.

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This is hardly a new issue for Van Gaal to deal with—constant chants of “attack, attack, attack” from the Old Trafford fans tell you that—but something does have to change in the United ranks.

That something could well be giving skipper Rooney a break.

Jon Super/Associated Press

The England captain has come under immense scrutiny this term, and his sloppy performances have done little to silence his critics. 

Saturday’s display once again left fans wondering where the old Rooney had ventured off to, with WhoScored.com's statistics showing just how ineffective he was:

However, former England striker Alan Shearer believes he just needs some time on the sidelines to recharge his batteries, as he wrote in his column for the Sun:

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His spark has gone out at the moment. He needs time out of the game to relight that fire inside him.

It might seem odd to say this as we are just 11 games into the season. But it would benefit him, Manchester United, and probably England as well.

Sir Alex Ferguson used to do it regularly with players, just give them a couple of weeks away from football. Don’t train, don’t even watch a game. Just fly away and do something else. Relax, recharge.

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Shearer also pointed out United’s lack of creativity isn’t Rooney’s fault, as players around him aren’t giving him a sniff up front:

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I would point out that while Rooney is being singled out for a lot of criticism, I don’t see it all being his fault, not the way United are playing.

Van Gaal claims that the team is creating chances—but I just don’t see it. Often it is all pass, pass, pass and then a hopeful ball into the box.

The longer a game goes on without getting a chance the more Rooney withdraws into the centre of the pitch, thus nullifying any effect he might have up front.

"

The debate of where Rooney is best positioned doesn’t show any signs of stopping, but as Pardew’s tactics have pointed out, it’s Martial who Van Gaal needs to make his main man.

His electric pace, trickery and guile have caused nightmares for defenders in the wide positions—so much so that he’s a marked man—and taking that to the front line will, undoubtedly, give United another angle going forward.

That is, if he can manage to get an inch of space ever again.