Jose Mourinho Warns Anthony Martial over Form Before Hull vs. Manchester United

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has warned Anthony Martial that if his form does not improve, he will not be able to keep picking him ahead of his team-mates as it would "kill the others."

Per the Guardian's Daniel Taylor, Mourinho said:

"

I don't think he lost his focus. I just think he didn't catch with both hands a big opportunity he had.

[...]

I cannot give one player chances to play and kill the others. To kill the others, I think I already did that with Memphis [Depay] by considering him the last option and by not giving him any option. But with the other guys I think you would be asking me why [Juan] Mata is not playing or why Marcus Rashford doesn’t have a chance, or why Jesse Lingard, a national team player, is not playing.

We have Rashford, Lingard, Mata, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan and Martial, and I cannot give the same player chance after chance after chance and not consider the effort of the others.

"

The Frenchman has not always been a regular for the Special One this season—he's only appeared in back-to-back Premier League games twice since September—and has scored six goals thus far.

He netted two of them recently, scoring against Middlesbrough on New Year's Eve and against Reading in the FA Cup third round on January 7.

However, it is his performance against Liverpool in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on January 15 that appears to have upset Mourinho. According to the Daily Mail's Chris Wheeler, the United boss believes Martial did not give Reds teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold a stern enough test.

Red Devils legend Gary Neville is also of the opinion Martial needs to improve:

With so many talented players competing for a limited number of places behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it's hard to justify selecting someone who isn't in form, with United needing to continue rising up the table to contend for a UEFA Champions League place.

Martial has talent in abundance—he's an electric forward who can cause teams problems with his pace and composed finishing.

However, after being United's most potent attacker last season, scoring 17 goals, it's clear the 21-year-old has not shown his ability consistently enough this year.

The Red Devils remain in competition on four fronts—the Premier League, the FA Cup, the UEFA Europa League and the EFL Cup, in which they'll be playing Hull City on Thursday in the second leg of their semi-final.

If they continue to progress in the cup competitions, there will be plenty more fixtures for United between now and the end of the season, so Mourinho will need to rotate his squad frequently—Martial will likely keep getting chances to impress, even with the competition for places.

As the manager noted, if he wants to re-establish himself as a regular, he'll need to start taking the opportunities he's given.