Martial is a sad case. I mean that, honestly. I'm not taking the mick.
The kid has got talent in spades. Its also not true that he cannot do a striker's job. Late in 2019-20 he was making near post runs, getting across defenders in the box. He looked like he was about to kick on.
However, the man looks quite easily shaken and I think we are seeing it again. Obviously, to be a pro footballer you have to be tough upstairs. Very few of us have a job where, if you mess up, tens of thousands of people start jeering you. I'm not saying Martial is delicate. However, when we got Zlatan he did not respond well. When we got Lukaku he did not respond well. When we got Cavani he did not respond well. Does not look like he has responded well to Cristiano coming back.
I feel like Martial will only ever show his best stuff at a club where he is without a doubt the main man, and that will never be Man Utd. United won the treble, had the best striker partnership in Europe, and Fergie was pretty much immediately after Van Nistlerooy. United isn't a club that stands still for anyone. Martial looks like he wants it to stand still for him.
We are seeing a player low on confidence. However, to restore his confidence we would have to put him on a pedestal. That just isn't going to happen.
I reckon Martial will go to a different club, a smaller club maybe, be their main guy and do well as a result. However, if he ever has to be part of any kind of rotation it will always go for him as we have seen it go in recent seasons. He wants top billing or nothing else. When he can't have it he loses a bit of his spark.