Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs criticised Anthony Martial after the Red Devils’ 2-0 victory against Manchester City at the theatre of dreams.
The France international opened the scoring when he latched onto a clever free-kick from Bruno Fernandes to score the first goal of the game.
Martial has often been criticised for his laziness and Giggs slammed the forward in December by calling him ‘lethargic’ and saying he should be dropped for Mason Greenwood.
The Frenchman is clearly trying to work on other areas of his game and that was evident in the second half when he closed down a bad touch from Ederson.
The City goalie allowed the ball to slip under his studs and narrowly cleared the ball before Anthony Martial could produce a block – much in the same way that Calvert-Lewin managed against United last week.
‘It was echoes of David De Gea last week. He [Ederson] was dithering on the ball,’ Giggs told Premier League Productions.
‘Martial and United pressed well at times. Me and Michael [Owen] were just talking about it and maybe I’m being overcritical but he should actually go with his right foot and block Ederson’s attempt to clear it.
‘But instead he goes with his left foot. He doesn’t quite get there and clatters into the post. It’s a strange technique really to go with his left foot rather than blocking it with his right foot.’
Martial collided with the post after the incident and even took to social media to display his battle scars. Owen was in agreement and says the forward would have scored had he put his ‘weight’ behind it.
‘He goes for the ball as if the keeper isn’t there to tap it in but he needs to use all weight and almost tackle the ball into the goal with momentum and weight,’ said Owen.
‘He was never going to score just by tapping it in because Ederson was always going to tackle him so right foot, all your weight behind it and tackle the goalkeeper. Put them both into the net.’
