Erik Ten Hag Appears to Blame Anthony Martial for His Team’s Negative Goal Difference

• Anthony Martial will leave Manchester United at the end of the 2023/24 season
• The Frenchman has spent nine years at the club in a spell plagued by injuries
• Erik ten Hag admitted Martial may not wear the red jersey again

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag had some interesting things to say about Anthony Martial as the Frenchman’s career at Old Trafford nears its end.

Martial is set to leave United at the end of the season as a free agent, with this time at Old Trafford ending unceremoniously.

The Frenchman is unlikely to kick a ball in United colours again, as he is recuperating from a groin surgery in January that kept him out for at least 10 weeks.

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He has not played for his team since the reverse fixture against Bournemouth on December 9, with Ten Hag admitting he did not know whether the Frenchman would play for the team again.

This term, Martial has made 19 appearances all season, scoring just twice.

He’s still with the medical [team]. He’s out on the pitch, but I don't know if he will be available," Ten Hag said, as cited on Manchester Evening News.

Ten Hag was then asked whether Martial’s lengthy lay-off let down his team, to which he responded:

"That is no doubt that we counted on him [Martial],"

"You need two strikers in a league we are in and the competitions. You need more options. You need double positioning in every position and for some positions, we didn’t have the choices this season. The striker position, the left full back position and that has a negative impact on the results.

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The gaffer, however,gave credit to his team for scoring plenty of goals, especially since the turn of the yar.

"So first part of the season we had a lack of goals but I think after the winter, we improved a lot on that fact. I think from January on we score in every game and also lately, we have scored more than one time in games."

Martial stats for United

Since signing for United as a promising youngster in 2015, Martial has made 317 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 90 goals.

His most prolific season came in 2019/2020, when he netted 23 goals in 48 games.

Things have, however, taken a turn for the worse since, as the 28-year-old has only found the net 19 times since, according to Transfermarkt.

His 2021/22 loan spell at Sevilla failed to revive his spark, prompting his return to United to see out his contract.