Why aren’t the media giving Anthony Martial the recognition he deserves? They’re biased against Manchester United, that’s why!
By Ali Akbar
Anthony Martial is currently experiencing the form of his life at Manchester United. And yet, if you relied on the old media for your football news, you’d think he was having another mediocre season.
I know what you’re all thinking: tell me something I don’t know.
Yes, Manchester United fans know that the traditional media has had it out for the club for years now. You can trace this bitterness to the Red Devils’ dominance in English football during the Sir Alex Ferguson years.
PLAYER RATINGS. Scores as low as FOUR as Manchester United get schooled by Manchester City!. light
However, this bitterness shouldn’t get in the way of objective football journalism. Pundits like ex-Liverpool player Graeme Souness are a disgrace to the profession for the lengths they’ll go to in order to slight United at any given opportunity.
Now, I understand that some of this criticism is justified. After all, the club is currently enduring one of its worst starts to a season in decades. But what isn’t justified is when the media treat the club and its players differently to others in the Premier League.
Souness’ obsession with Paul Pogba has been well documented by others. However, what many aren’t talking about is how the media is completely ignoring Anthony Martial’s terrific form for United – even though he’s performing as good if not better than many ‘media darlings’ right now.
The Frenchman has six goals so far this season – level with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane. But what makes this more impressive is the fact that Martial played far fewer minutes than either of them.
In fact, he currently has the BEST goals per minute ratio in the Premier League, averaging one every 104 minutes! So even though the likes of Eden Hazard and Sergio Aguero have more goals than Martial, they needed more minutes to reach those milestones.
The 22-year-old is also the most clinical player in the league, and quite possibly, the whole of Europe. Indeed, Martial has a rare 100 per cent shots on target record and has managed his six goals in only nine shots. Incredible!
So why aren’t the media singing his praise as they have done for the other aforementioned players who aren’t performing nearly as well?
When Eden Hazard started the season in similar form, the media wrote numerous puff-piece editorials hailing him as the best player in the world and saying that he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or – just weeks into the season!
Wow. Just… wow.
Like I said, this isn’t anything new. It just really grinds my gears that a player who has worked so hard to turn his career around after experiencing numerous issues at the club and in his personal life isn’t getting the recognition he deserves.
At least the fans appreciate him, I guess. The Stretford End will never cease to sing the ‘Tony Marshall’ chant in praise of his performances. Let’s hope the English press can one day put their biases to one side and do the same.
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Do you agree that Martial is underrated by the traditional media? Do you think he can reach 20 Premier League goals before the end of the season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!