Jose Mourinho has told Anthony Martial that he has to utilise all the opportunities that will come his way. Martial didn’t feature in the 1-1 draw against Stoke City.
The French teenager was sensational in his maiden season, scoring 17 goals. The 21-year-old was signed for an initial £36m from Monaco and went on to be the top scorer of the club. But he has been struggling to replicate his form this term finding the net only six times in 20 competitive matches.
Martial was seen in his native country as Mourinho granted him a holiday. The departure of Memphis Depay has left a void on the left wing and Mourinho has warned that there are a lot of players vying for that position.
He said, “I don’t think he lost his focus.
“When we spoke about Memphis Depay, we spoke about it being the only position where we have overbooking. We have still five players for these positions.
“I cannot give to one player chances to play and kill the others. I think I 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 even you would be here now asking me why [Juan] Mata is not playing or Marcus Rashford doesn’t have a chance or why Jesse Lingard, a national team player, is not playing.
“So this is a reality. We have Rashford, Lingard, Mata, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan, Martial, and I cannot give to the same player chance after chance after chance and not consider the effort of the others.”
