Ferdinand dubs the player who benefitted from sacking of Mourinho
Rio Ferdinand highlighted Anthony Martial as the biggest beneficiary of Jose Mourinho’s sacking at Manchester United.
The Frenchman was signed in 2015 for £58m by then manager Louis Van Gaal and burst on-to-the scene at a very early age.
Jose Mourinho took over the club in 2016 and Martial struggled for a first-place in the team.
It seemed as if he would’ve been offloaded if Mourinho remained at Old Trafford.
The Frenchman was reborn when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer succeeded Mourinho in December 2018.
Martial is enjoying the best season of his career adding a whopping 22 goals to his tally and with just five games left, that number will likely increase.
Ferdinand said on BT Sport: “I think Anthony Martial was probably the main one, for me, that needed rebuilding.
“Jose Mourinho brings in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, takes his number nine shirt. What that does for a player’s confidence I cannot tell you. It absolutely zaps the confidence out of you.
“He’s a poacher, a six-yard box player, scoring the scruffy goals, if you like. But he can also bring other people into the game.
“The intensity with which he plays, the skill, the guile that he’s got. This is what I love about him . He’s doing everything you’d want from a number nine right now.
“This is what we saw when he first burst onto the scene for Man United as a teenager. He came in scoring absolute world-beater goals, taking people on and driving at people.
“The dribbling, that’s world-class football what you’re seeing there. What I love about him is his intensity has changed, his whole body language has changed, there’s a new positivity about him.
“He’s somebody that is enjoying having the belief of the current manager. That’s what you need.
“No matter what level you are as a player, you need the backing and the belief from your manager to be able to put what you have on show.”
