The performances of Anthony Martial since his £36m move from Monaco have heaped pressure on Wayne Rooney according to former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes.
The Frenchman has been even more impressive than Cristiano Ronaldo was at the same stage of his career, and Scholes believes that his growing influence on team has highlighted the failings of his new club captain.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Scholes said: “Martial is still a young player, he’s 19-years-old, he didn’t come with the biggest reputation for being a really big goal scorer. I think the pressure is still on Wayne.
“When we [United] were at our best we had four strikers who could come in and score 25-30 goals. This team now doesn’t have that. There is a lot of pressure on [Rooney].”
Scholes has been most impressed with the maturity shown by Martial, citing his confidence to score the equaliser against CSKA Moscow after giving away the penalty that led to the Russian team’s opening goal, saying:
“Anthony Martial didn’t let his head go down, which can happen after the penalty and he scored a great goal. Then we pushed on and gave everything and couldn’t get the second goal which was a shame.
Still, the former Manchester United man admitted that the team’s current failings extend beyond England’s record goalscorer. “You look at the United team, there is no quality, no movement,” he said. “People are not running. Is it the way they are told to play?
“It’s all safety playing across the pitch. I can’t remember a pass in to Wayne Rooney. There is no movement.
“You’ve got midfield players who can run — Ander Herrera, Jesse Lingaard, Anthony Martial — stick the ball into Rooney and run but there’s not one of them even thinking of running.”
