Anthony Martial hasn't lived up to the high expectations that were placed on him following his move to Manchester United seven years ago.
Every United fan will remember his debut goal against Liverpool back in September 2015, along with Martin Tyler's iconic commentary, a game they won 3-1. Since then, however, Martial hasn't quite realised his potential, with the Frenchman eventually falling out of favour at the club and being sent on loan to Spanish club Sevilla where he only scored once in 12 games.
With new manager Erik ten Hag praising the Frenchman for his good form in pre-season, Martial could play a part in the upcoming campaign, particularly with doubts around the future of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese striker wants out but that hasn't stopped Ten Hag from admitting how much he wants to work with Ronaldo.
ALSO READ: Erik ten Hag has identified the same Manchester United problem as the past two managers
Although he's going into his eighth season with the club, Martial is still only 26 so he's just starting to hit his prime years. Could he be what United need to begin to return to the glory days of old? We decided to find out and simulated Martial and United's 2022/23 season should Ronaldo leave to see what would happen.
Martial lights up English football
Looking at his in-game profile, Martial clearly has the pace to burst past defenders when playing either as a left-winger or as a lone striker. He also has strong dribbling and finishing abilities, and he's able to set up better scoring opportunities for himself with his excellent first touch.
Martial's individual statistics from this simulation were good but not exactly world class. 18 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions is the most he's had in a season for United since 2019/20 (23). He led United's goal tally with 12 Premier League goals in 29 games - one more than Bruno Fernandes. Martial also averaged a 6.96 rating, good enough to get him into the best XI for United's 2022/23 season.
At the end of the season, FM22 released a best XI from the United squad, using player statistics, league data and other measures to complete the team. Here’s United's best XI for the 2022/23 season according to our simulation.
Full United Best XI (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; De Jong, Fred; Rashford, Fernandes, Sancho; Martial.
We can see Ten Hag set Martial as a lone striker, flanked by Marcus Rashford, Fernandes and Jadon Sancho. New signings Frenkie de Jong and Lisandro Martinez also made the squad with average ratings of 7.39 and 7.11, respectively.
Manchester United's season overall from our simulation
Even after Ronaldo's exit, United performed well throughout all of the competitions they took part in. Last season's sixth-place finish was upgraded dramatically in our simulated season as Ten Hag's men finished in third with 20 more points than last season. Ten Hag's United won seven more games than they did in 2021/22 and conceded 23 fewer goals.
In their domestic cup competitions, United also got much better results from our simulation - despite finishing runners-up to Leicester in the FA Cup, a 3-0 Carabao Cup final win against Tottenham gave United their first domestic trophy since 2017.
European glory wouldn't go the way of United despite topping Group F with 13 points. Their first knockout stage game came against AC Milan as United went through in dramatic fashion with a 3-0 away win to beat Milan 4-3 on aggregate.
Their next opponents would be Inter. Losing the first leg 2-1, United needed a big performance away at the San Siro again but were unable to pull through after a Lautaro Martinez hat-trick sunk all hope.
Overall, this simulation suggests that Martial could have a decent season if Ronaldo does get the exit he wants. Ten Hag's plans for the Frenchman could mean he gets the game time he's needed over the last few years. Ultimately, if Martial continues to perform well in pre-season, he could start the campaign as first choice.
But this simulation also suggests that even with Ronaldo leaving, Martial wouldn't be able to get near the Portuguese forward's goal tally, but his inclusion in the side might make the team stronger overall, something Ten Hag will have to ponder over in the coming weeks.
READ NEXT:
