Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been urged to replicate Thomas Tuchel’s tough approach when it comes to dealing with struggling striker Anthony Martial
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Manchester United 0-1 West Ham: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer post match
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been urged to follow in the footsteps of rival Thomas Tuchel when it comes to dealing with Anthony Martial.
The Frenchman was handed a rare opportunity to impress in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
But Martial put in a flat display as United were dumped out of the competition in a 1-0 defeat to Premier League rivals West Ham.
Solskjaer defended Martial’s lacklustre performance after the match – but it left talkSPORT pundit Jamie O’Hara wanting the United boss to follow the example of Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, who hauled off Saul Niguez after the Spaniard endured a disappointing debut.
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“I don’t think it’s right to go into individual performances,” Solskjaer said following the defeat to the Hammers.
“Antho was the same as the rest of the team. We played some nice football, just we lacked some of that cutting edge and he knows what we want from him. He keeps on working and he’ll get his chances.”
But O’Hara was adamant that Solskjaer should be more critical of his misfiring striker.
Does Anthony Martial need to leave Man Utd? Comment below
“I want him to be like Thomas Tuchel, who comes out and is honest, like when Saul was taken off at half-time, but he [Solskjaer] gives these politically boring answers,” the ex- Tottenham midfielder said on the Sports Bar.
The Blues boss was brutally honest after hooking Saul on his debut against Aston Villa a couple of weeks ago.
“I had the feeling that he struggled,” Tuchel told Sky Sports after the game. “There were some big mistakes, passing mistakes, and he struggled with the intensity. You could see he isn’t fully adapted.
“It’s completely my responsibility. I had the feeling he could jump in for us and play at that level. I [then] thought it was maybe better to change him, but it doesn’t change anything [about how I see him].”
Martial always looked the most likely candidate to be culled from a bloated rank of attackers at Old Trafford following the summer return of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Frenchman managed just four league goals last year – a figure that Ronaldo (3) has almost eclipsed after just two Premier League games.
The 25-year-old looked out of sorts against the Hammers on Wednesday night once again.
He found the target just once from of his three shots and had the fewest number of outfield touches of all United’s starting players.
And he came in for more criticism, this time from former United striker Dion Dublin, on Wednesday night.
“We need to see more from Anthony Martial,” Dublin told BBC 5Live radio.
“We have said it many times before but he is not helping his cause.
“I want to see him sweating and putting the ball in the back of the net. He has not done enough since being at United.
“You see flashes and think it is the start then he doesn’t do anything.
“His body language is horrible to watch, he doesn’t want to run around and work hard to be United’s number nine.”
