Smalling: How Martial Has Improved United

Anthony Martial has injected great pace and power into Manchester United’s attack and Chris Smalling believes the Frenchman is exactly the type of player needed at Old Trafford.

Since his deadline-day arrival, Martial has impressively registered four goals in five appearances for the Reds after netting a sensational debut strike against Liverpool, scoring a clinical brace at Southampton and converting again during the Capital One Cup victory over Ipswich Town.

The 19-year-old France international and former Monaco forward most recently registered an assist for Wayne Rooney during Saturday’s 3-0 win over Sunderland, when his overall performance and ability on the ball was widely praised by United supporters both at the ground and on social media.

Smalling has trained with Martial for around a month, getting to know exactly how he plays and how to defend against him, which makes the flourishing centre-back a perfect judge of his quality. During an exclusive interview with United Review, the defender discusses the club’s exciting no.9.

“If you could ask for a moment to announce yourself on the world stage, it would be in a massive game like Liverpool at home,” Smalling explains. “It was a great moment and a lot of people took notice of how well he dribbled at players, how direct he was and how he took his goal.

“That’s something we’ve needed this season. He continued his good form by scoring twice at Southampton and again against Ipswich, so he’s enjoyed a great start to his United career.

“In that snippet against Liverpool, you get a real idea of how he is. He is one who is very direct, he is willing to take on players and he is willing to take on that risk. I think, in the final third, it is an area where you can take that risk because you can’t take it at the back. He looks a very sharp player.”

United are now top of the Barclays Premier League with 16 points from seven matches played, which is already three more than the Reds earned in the first 10 fixtures of 2014/15. There is obviously a long way to go until the end of the campaign, but Smalling is confident of progress and feels Louis van Gaal’s men can win the title if they are still in the running by the New Year.

“We have improved,” says Chris. “Last season’s start was disastrous and it didn’t give us a foothold to be able to challenge for anything. We know that we have improved in this section of the season, and we now have to improve in each other section compared to last season and aim a lot higher.

“Our aim is to be competitive in all of the competitions and to make sure that we finish higher in the Premier League than we did last season. If we keep this consistent run from the start, and can maintain that all the way through, then I don’t think anything is out of reach.

“If you show that consistency then you will always be there or thereabouts. If you’re near the top by Christmas, you then want a strong finish and a bit of luck on your side as well.”

Three nominees for United’s Player of the Month award for September will be announced after Wednesday’s Champions League match against Wolfsburg and Smalling hopes to be involved again, having finished second in the poll for the August prize – which went to Matteo Darmian.

“Yeah, I thought that was nice,” he admits. “Obviously, you want to please the coaching staff here and you want to please the fans. They are the two that I mainly concentrate on. If you listen to too many things then you can be up and down like a rollercoaster! The manager is the one who can improve you and, with the fans, if you keep them happy then you know that you are doing okay.

“Matteo was a worthy winner. He has come into the club and he hasn’t needed any time to settle in. He has literally hit the ground running and that is full credit to him, to be able to adjust to a different league and a different culture. He has improved the team in such a short space of time, so I think that makes him a very worthy winner. There’s a long way to go, but he’s made a good start.”