Anthony Martial | Shadows in the mist

It was September 2015 in Manchester, and it had been raining for weeks. There were puddles everywhere, so you didn’t have to go far before you would be soaking wet. Anthony Martial looked up at the sky, which had turned a pale gray with just enough light through the clouds to make out all its many colors. The wind blew through his scalp and slowly trickled down his face, almost like a finger sliding across his jawline. But he didn’t mind; it calmed him.

This was it. This was finally it. He was about to make his debut for Manchester United. As he stood near the touchline with the fourth official raising the substitution display board to signify the first time he’ll step into the pitch officially as a Manchester United player, he couldn’t help but Marvel at the absolute brilliance of Old Trafford. The atmosphere was electrifying, and not just because they were playing their biggest rivals.

The board displayed the number "8" in red, and Juan Mata walked across the pitch to usher in United’s new star. Martial Planted two fingers in the grass, as he had done many times before arriving at Manchester and would continue to do whenever he got on the pitch. He raised them to his chest and shoulders as he ran headfirst into a new era in his career - his life.

Old Trafford was alive. It had to be, and it always was when Liverpool came strolling into town.

It was full to the brim, and a sea of red and white filled the length of the stadium. The away end was packed out too, with a number of banners on display from fans in that part of the ground. But nothing could silence the Old Trafford faithful. They had been waiting to see their new wonder kid in action. They had seen the highlight reels on YouTube, and they had watched numerous pundits sing his praises, but nothing could beat watching with your own eyes.

It didn’t take long before the Frenchman took out two defenders inside their own box and basically just walked the ball into the back of the net. It budged, and the anticipation that led up to that goal compounded with a deafening roar from the Stretford End.

Martial had scored an incredible goal. It was like watching Hermes glide through the clouds, but on a stormy night, looking at the torrent of raindrops as nothing more than a mild inconvenience that had no bearing on where he was going. The French wunderkind had made Liverpool’s defenders look entirely inept, and with that goal, his name would be etched in Manchester United’s history forever.

Louis Van Gaal would call the goal "marvelous." A bit anticlimactic, if you ask me. That was Louis, a man with very stoic expectations and stoic excitement. Even now, after all these years, I still cannot find the right words to describe what that goal meant to most United fans. Scoring against Liverpool on your debut is enough to build a cult following around you.

Much of what we witnessed from Martial during that debut is what makes him so vital to Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United.

The team currently has three options for the number nine role, including Martial. But only the Frenchman possesses the qualities, both tactically and technically, that can theoretically improve the team and take it where it needs to be. Obviously, several things and certain dominoes would need to fall into the right places at the right time, but the foundation has already been laid, and it's time to capitalize on it.

What is the most important quality a center-forward can have? Finishing ability? Movement? First touch? All great traits. Personally, I've always considered tactical intelligence to be extremely appealing and not just for CFs. Some of the aforementioned qualities are more valuable than others; it all depends on their role on the team. For a player like Martial, who already possesses some of these qualities that can propel him to world-class level, this could be a defining season in his career.

There was a time, especially during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s spell as manager when you would have staked your mortgage and your children’s tuition on Martial’s elite finishing ability. He could stare right into the eyes of the goalkeeper, remain calm and unfazed, and finish an opportunity with pinpoint accuracy. There was once this aura of inevitable every time Martial was presented with a good chance.

He seemed to have lost that ability for a time. No, "lost" is too strong a word, and class is always permanent. We'll say "buried," as he went through a challenging period of time where nothing worked for the Frenchman. This season, at the time of writing, he is averaging a goal, and an assist every 25 minutes, which certainly means he's getting the chances and he's putting them away.

Everyone has been impressed with Martial as he's back to scoring goals, and rightly so. But my respect for the Man United number 9 goes far beyond the goals or assists he has been getting. The ability to bring others into play is much more important. When the Frenchman drops deep to collect, things happen. Defenders become confused. Chaos is born. No one usually knows who to pick up and why. They lose other players like Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes. They start chasing their tails. This happens for a number of reasons;

Martial can actually hold up the ball. So defenders are taking a huge risk when they decide to follow him deep. They will very rarely be able to dispossess him. Ultimately, pulling defenders out of position works in the favour of Bruno and Rashford, who both love open spaces ahead of them.

If defenders choose to stay back, they also run the risk of letting Martial linkup with one of the wingers, fullbacks, or midfielders, and there are very few players who thrive in one-touch passing systems as Tony does.

It’s like chasing shadows in the mist.

Any opposition that gives Martial time and space on the ball is asking for trouble. It’s a lose-lose situation for them sometimes, unless they double up on him and hope they catch him quick enough before he lays the ball off to a player in a more dangerous position.

Where United usually run into problems is when the players fail to capitalise on the open spaces, which happens more often than you’d think.

Much has been said about Martial’s work rate, most of which is valid. But every time the Frenchman has been on the pitch, United enjoyed their best pressing moments.

Tony is not a pressing forward. He won’t chase after the ball tirelessly for 90 minutes. But that shouldn’t be a bad thing. For one, United are basically one of the worst high-pressing teams in the league at the moment, and it’s unlikely to change unless there is a significant change in how they build play from the back. Pressing high would just open too much space in the midfield because the center-backs won’t always push high enough to close up the space, something we saw against Manchester City at the Etihad.

But it suits Martial almost perfectly. This is where the tactical intelligence we were talking about comes in. He cuts off passing lanes, watches defenders get closed down, and tries to latch on to any mistakes they’re likely to make. It sounds simple. Easy, even. But you would have to be alert at all times, anticipate where you think the mistakes might end up, and then be in the exact position to get the ball.

The connection between Tony and Rashford has always been there. Right from the moment, they were still both teenagers under the watchful eyes of Louis Van Gaal, who fancied them both as left-wingers rather than out-and-out number 9s. It’s clear that they make each other better, and that bond is what we all yearn for again, especially when some in the fan base pitted them against each other.

Really, watching them both score in the same game is like watching Shakespeare write, but with a lot of passionate cursing. You only understand about half the words, but you still know how epic they sound. It also feels kind of voyeuristic because it seems like something that should not be happening, but it was.

The major fear around Tony’s and a source of all my sleepless nights is how prone he has been to injuries in the past year. There are ways to mitigate this, of course, but it sometimes feels unavoidable. But I feel that if he is well-managed and does not start every game, we can overcome these injury concerns.

But, for the time being, he is crucial to Erik Ten Hag’s style of play, and United will have to pin all of their hopes on him because no one else on the team can do what he does. But that can be a positive or a negative, depends on how you look at it.

French Philosopher Rene Descartes said “Il ne suffit pas d’avoir un bon esprit ; l’essentiel est de bien l’utiliser.” It roughly translates as “It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.”

So, it is not enough to have a good player, the main thing is to use him well.

Tony is a beautiful footballer. A touch of class and a sprinkle of elegance makes him eye catching to watch. In some ways, he is an ode to an era when football was a little more expressive. “Can that help the team now?” is the real question.