Who Is Set to Be Manchester United's Next Big Star?
It is happening already: Manchester United fans are getting carried away with the performances of Anthony Martial. However, it would appear to be with very good reason.
There are many voices urging caution, but it is hard to heed them, because so far—and, of course, it is very early days, but so far—Martial looks like he will be United's next big star.
The Martial story so far is of a player bought out of the blue—having been overlooked by the gossip-mongers of summer—and having a remarkable, vital and almost unforeseen impact on his new club.
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When he scored against Liverpool, comparisons with Thierry Henry were commonplace, but Federico Macheda's name was bandied about as a cautionary tale.
Five games later, having scored three more goals and provided an assist, that caution—in spite of the best attempts to remain level headed—is being thrown to the wind.
Against Sunderland on Saturday, he did not score but was crucial to United's win.
His assist was borne of his remarkable close control, which allowed him to tear through Sunderland's defence to knock the ball in to Rooney. He also had the wherewithal to pick out the near-post ball, which Rooney was able to bundle in off his knee.
That control was on show in the first half, too, as—out near the right touchline—he first held off and then beat the full-back by dragging the ball in towards himself before exploding out with it.
All of this could be a purple patch, but the longer it goes on, the more sustainable it appears. And if it is sustainable, there is no doubt that Martial will be the next big thing at Old Trafford.
It is easier for strikers to capture the imagination, for a start. Defenders are appreciated. Their work is vital to the success of the team. But even recent greats, like Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic or Patrice Evra have had their name and number on fewer shirts in the crowd than their more attacking colleagues.
For the first post-transfer window home game of last season the crowd was full of "Di Maria 7" and "Falcao 9" shirts. This season's opener saw plenty of "Memphis 7" shirts worn, but the last couple of games have seen ever more "Martial 9" shirts among the crowd.
He has a chant too. With Robin van Persie gone, "Seven Nation Army" was left free, and it has been adopted for Martial with a thoroughly localised pronunciation of his name.
There are other contenders for "next big thing."
Memphis Depay has the personality to capture plenty of attention. After the Sunderland game, he stood in the centre circle and offered a salute to Old Trafford's East Stand, a nice change from the traditional hands-held-aloft applause favoured by most footballers.
His love of a dribble and eye for the spectacular will endear fans to him if he can adapt his game to the Premier League well enough to harness those talents. For now, he is running himself into trouble too often.
United fans have seen this before, of course, a mercurial talent apparently trying too hard and struggling to adapt to the Premier League. It is yet to be seen whether Memphis will veer closer to the trajectory experienced by Cristiano Ronaldo or Nani. If it is anywhere near the former, then he and Martial may share superstar status.
Further away from the spotlight, United have a couple of players developed at the club on the fringes of the first-team squad. They are down the pecking order from Memphis and Martial but deserve some consideration here.
James Wilson will probably suffer from Martial's arrival. He has been nowhere near the first team, but nor has he been able to go out on loan—understandable given that Javier Hernandez, Van Persie and Radamel Falcao all left the club in the summer. While it is understandable, it is unhelpful for the player's development.
He has shown at under-21 level and on his occasional forays into the first team that he is a gifted striker, but with Martial ahead of him in the pecking order, his chances to shine will—sadly—be reduced.
The one United youngster who got an opportunity to play in the third-round League Cup clash with Ipswich Town—a game which in the past would have been a stage for a few more academy products to get a chance—was Andreas Pereira. He made the cut in spite of Louis van Gaal's decision to play a very strong side.
He showed why he was the one chosen when he dispatched a well hit free-kick straight into the net. That a player of the ability of Juan Mata stepped aside to allow Pereira to take it shows that his dead-ball ability is held in high regard by his colleagues. His all-round game was impressive, too, and he looked ready to make the step up to the first team.
There is so much competition for places in Pereira's spot, though, that it is likely to be a while before he is regularly in the starting XI.
The rest of United's stars are all established.
Bastian Schweinsteiger—new to the club, of course—has been instantly embraced by fans. The singing section in Old Trafford belted out his song, "Deutscher Fussballmeister," for a full 10 minutes towards the end of the Sunderland game.
As he stood in the centre circle and applauded their efforts after the final whistle, a German flag waved in the crowd. However, he has been a star for so long, that it was almost inevitable that stardom would travel with him to Old Trafford.
Martial though, has been a total surprise. His start looks more impressive with every game, and it gets harder to remember that this is a 19-year-old whose form will dip at some point. It is also important to remember that things can change very quickly in football, as Luke Shaw's horrible injury made all too clear.
However barring serious misfortune, he has shown so many of the necessary attributes of a successful elite-level centre-forward in his first month at United that picking him out for stardom hardly seems a risk.
He seems to be taking it all in his stride, too—in a literal sense, when he hardly breaks stride to brush a side-foot finish past the keeper, and in a metaphorical sense, when his celebration is cool and understated, as if he is just getting on with his job.
The grand stage and bright lights of Old Trafford that have startled many in the past do not appear to weigh heavily on the young man. He has been keen to show what he can do, but unlike Memphis, that has not meant trying too hard to impress.
Instead, he has brought his talents into a team that really needed them. It has only been a month, and much tougher tests await, but United's attack looks transformed by Martial's presence. The first half of the game against Sunderland had a near-identical pattern to the first half against Newcastle United at Old Trafford.
That game was played before Martial arrived and finished 0-0. Correlation is not causation, and Newcastle's defence were superb that day, but it is hard not to think about what might have been had Martial been there to stretch them and test their resolve against his skill set.
Red Devils defender Chris Smalling said of Martial, per the club's website:
"He is one who is very direct, he is willing to take on players and he is willing to take on that risk. I think, in the final third, it is an area where you can take that risk because you can’t take it at the back.
He looks a very sharp player.
"
He does. And if he keeps going like this, his status as a future star is assured.
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