Manchester United forward Anthony
Martial admits he regularly feels the wrath of Louis van Gaal in training but
says he has learned to laugh off the Dutchman’s anger.
Martial has enjoyed a successful
debut season at Old Trafford since the Red Devils made him the most expensive
teenager in football history when buying him from Monaco at the end of the
summer transfer window.
The Frenchman, who turned 20 in
December, has shouldered a lot of responsibility this season and has quickly
developed into one of the club's most important players.
With 12 goals already, Martial has
quickly ingratiated himself with United's supporters but admits he receives no
special treatment from his manager.
"If I misplace a pass or I take
a poor touch, he [Van Gaal] is the first I hear who is screaming at me,"
Martial revealed in an interview with French outlet
"It makes me laugh because I know it is
for my own good. He wants me to be a perfectionist and I think it is like that
that I will progress.
"He has allowed me to progress
enormously, he has also given me an enormous amount of confidence and I think
it is thanks to this that I have succeeded with my start at Manchester United.
"He is a very good coach. In
his nature he seems cold on the exterior but he is a very good coach. He is
nice - when we win, he is happy."
United currently lie sixth in the
table, level on points with fifth-placed West Ham and one behind fourth-placed
Manchester City.
A top-four finish appeared remote
for United a month ago but City's dip in form has offered them hope.
With Wayne Rooney out with a knee
injury, Van Gaal has been forced rely on 18-year-old Marcus Rashford to lead
United's attack with Martial and 23-year-old Jesse Lingard offering support
from the wings.
Martial has been impressed with the
play of Rashford and Lingard and he hopes between the three of them, they can
score the goals needed for United to finish their season on a high.
"Honestly they are two very
good young players and they have helped us enormously this season and I hope
that they will continue like that so that we can finish fourth or third in the
league," Martial said.
The emergence of Rashford has seen
Martial forced to play on the left to accommodate him. Although the Frenchman
readily admits his preferred role is up front, he says he is happy to play
wherever benefits the team the most and insists he is not jealous of Rashford's
success.
"No not at all, I am very happy
for him. He is scoring goals and that is the most important thing,"
Martial said.
"I prefer to play up front, but
if the coach puts me on the wing then that means it is better for the team and
for me that is the most important thing.
"I am working very hard every
day in training [to become a better finisher] and it is true that sometimes
when I play as the number nine, I have not scored but it is like that.
"With time, I will progress
even more and I will be more mature to score even more goals."
Paris Saint-Germain have been linked
with a move for Martial this summer as a replacement for the outgoing Zlatan
Ibrahimovic but Martial insists all he is concentrating on is helping
Manchester United get back to the top.
When asked if the move interested
him, he said: "They [Manchester United] are not at the top at the moment,
but I hope that next year they will be."
Source: Sky Sports.com
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