Ryan Giggs slams ‘lethargic’ Man Utd star who ‘did not look bothered’

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has heavily criticised Anthony Martial for his performance in Sunday’s draw against Everton.

The France attacker was a peripheral figure as United laboured to a 1-1 draw against the struggling Toffees, with Mason Greenwood coming off the bench to level the scores and salvage a point.

Despite United having 24 shots in the match, Martial only mustered one effort – which was blocked – and Giggs believes he did not do anywhere near enough up front, suggesting that youngster Greenwood may now deserve to start ahead of him.

“He is talented, and he’s not a bad kid, but the problem he has is that he looks lethargic all the time. He looks casual, as if he’s not bothered,” Giggs told the Premier League.

“When it comes off, and he’s doing brilliant things, you say it just comes naturally. But when it’s not, you think: he’s not running, he’s not trying, he’s not working hard enough, he’s not holding the ball up.

“So in my eyes he has to try extra hard because of his persona, because of the way that he moves.

“But he doesn’t look like he breaks sweat and when United are chasing a game you want someone to get across the front post – you might not score, but your teammate might score.

“It’s all these sort of things that you’re not getting off him at the moment.

“With Mason coming on and doing that, getting in positions to score goals, he [Martial] is going to be under pressure, because he’s not giving you anything defensively and he’s not giving you anything offensively either.”

On Greenwood, he added: “He looks a threat, every time he comes on. I think Ole is handling him in the right way at the moment, bringing him on, impact player.

“It’s just how long you can keep him like that, because also when he starts games he’s scoring goals. We talk about Martial, he’s not doing enough, he’s not much of a goal threat, no chances in the box, so it won’t be long before Mason Greenwood starts.”

Meanwhile, RB Salzburg striker Erling Braut Haaland has decided that his next career move will be to join Manchester United, according to reports.

The 19-year-old, who has announced himself as one of European football’s most coveted talents with eight goals in six Champions League appearances, has scored a further 20 times in other competitions so far this term.

Such performances have seen the Norwegian heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford in recent months, with recent reports claiming that Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in Austria earlier this week to try to convince his compatriot about such a deal.

Another claim has suggested that Haaland has travelled to Germany in recent days to observe Borussia Dortmund’s set-up, but according to the Sunday Mirror, Haaland is convinced that United is the right club for him. Read more…