Solskjaer expects Rashford and Martial to become “leading stars” for Man Utd this season
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to develop into “leading stars” at Old Trafford this season.
The Norwegian believes that their experience should enable the pair to to prove crucial this season, having also acknowledged the brilliant start made by summer signing Daniel James after he scored in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton.
How do Martial and Rashford compare to other top strikers? Five things to know…
- Last season both scored 10 goals, 12 less than Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who shared the Premier League golden boot.
- In all competitions, Rashford has scored 47 goals in 174 appearances, with Martial on 50 in 117 appearances.
- Neither have managed to match Romelu Lukaku’s best for a single season (25 for Everton 2016/2017).
- Both are on two goals and one assist in the league this season. Aguero already has six goals and one assist.
- Daniel James is now Man United’s top scorer with three goals this term.
Solskjaer has experimented with Martial and Rashford as a front two so far this season. He believes they are good enough to be talismen for their side, allowing room for error for youngster Mason Greenwood, despite being outscored by James to date.
“I think he [James] is an example for everyone. He’s our top scorer, and that comes from his personality, his habits. He’s humble, he works hard and he knows he can improve.
“Both Anthony [Martial] and Marcus [Rashford] they’ve played I don’t know how many games and they’ve had so many years in this football club, in this team,” Solskjaer said.
“I expect them to be leading stars as well. And of course Dan James coming in as well, [although] we don’t expect him to score in every game he starts. Mason [Greenwood] was also unlucky [at Southampton]. We’re on the right track,” he added.
The key winners and losers as Man Utd were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-men Southampton – https://t.co/c4kDPqHZww
👍👍👍
👎👎👎— Squawka (@Squawka) August 31, 2019
Too much pressure on the front two?
This summer has seen a lot of change at Man United. Now Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku have both moved to Inter Milan, Rashford and Martial only have Greenwood for direct competition.
An injury to one of the starters would either mean starting Greenwood, who is only 17 and has just seven league appearances. He is yet to score for Man United.
