Anthony Martial: Stats Show French Striker Has Been a Passenger at Manchester United

• Manchester United lost a second straight game with a 1-0 margin in four days
• David De Gea’s blunder took the fall for the United attackers’ toothless display against West Ham
• There is more to United’s problems this season than the embattled Spanish goalkeeper

Manchester United's top-four hopes are hanging in the balance after they failed to capitalise on Arsenal’s victory over their fellow top-four hopeful, Newcastle United.

Erik Ten Hag’s men were expected to bounce back from midweek’s loss to Brighton via a last-minute penalty from Luke Shaw’s handball, but the reverse was the case.

David De Gea produced a shocking and horror blunder to hand West Ham a vital win in their battle for survival after the former Atletico Madrid goalie parried a shot from Said Benrahma into the net.

The Red Devils laboured all game, hit the woodwork twice and wasted many chances in a gutless attacking performance to put their Champions League hopes in the air.

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Shearer condemns Anthony Martial

Premier League record goal scorer Alan Shearer quickly picked out French striker Anthony Martial and labelled him not good enough for the club.

‘‘He’s not good enough to take Man United to where they want to be. If he was good enough, he would be starting on a regular basis, and he would be scoring goals. He’s had his time, and it hasn’t worked for him, that’s my opinion,’’ he said, as quoted by Metro UK.

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright opined with Shearer, making further reference to Dutch striker Wout Weghorst starting ahead of Martial.

‘‘With all due respect to Martial, if you’ve got Wout Weghorst starting in front of you, you’ve got a problem,’’ Wright said.

Martial’s poor league stat

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As revealed by UtdXclusive on Twitter, the former Monaco forward has scored just nine league goals in the last three seasons, averaging three league goals per season.

This is incredibly poor for a player earning £250,000 per week, as revealed by Spotrac. He is contracted to the club till the summer of 2024, having signed a new contract four years ago.

Ten Hag explains Martial decision

One of the major problems of the 27-year-old in past seasons has been injuries, and he has been out for a crucial part of this season with different injuries.

As Sports Brief reported, Erik Ten Hag started Martial off the bench on his return from injury against Brentford, and he explained it was due to his fragility and long spells on the sidelines.