Erik ten Hag has to install the confidence back into Anthony Martial in order to get the best out of the Manchester United forward ahead of the second-half of the season.
That's an opinion held by Bastian Schweinsteiger, who believes Ten Hag must push the Frenchman to become "one of the best players" at the club. Martial made the £36million move to Old Trafford from Monaco in 2015 and has since netted 83 times in 276 appearances during his seven-year stint at the Red Devils.
Having struggled for game time under Ralf Rangnick, Martial spent six months out on loan at Sevilla, where he failed to find the net in nine LaLiga matches. However, following the arrival of Ten Hag as the club's new manager, Martial was given a new lease of life in pre-season and looked sharp.
Although Martial has had an injury-hit start to the season, the 27-year-old has been impressive when fit, having grabbed four goals and two assists in seven games. With Martial set to try and force his way back into the United side after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, Schweinsteiger has challenged Ten Hag to get Martial back firing.
"His potential is immense," Schweinsteiger said of Martial in an interview with MUTV. "I remember very well when he arrived at United, and he scored the goal against Liverpool in a special way.
"With him, you need to give him confidence. But you also need to push him sometimes, you know, and then he can be one of the best players. But he has to understand that first, you know, and that’s the job of the coaches and also the team-mates.
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"If you play with someone like him, you want to see the quality of this player all the time. You expect it because you know what this player is able to do. When I played with him, my goal was always to put him in the right position with the ball.
"So to give him the ball in the right moments where he can show his abilities the most. Like one against one, one against two, with the ball, facing the opponents’ goal. They are the moments he is waiting for, and then he’s actually producing. At the end of the day, what matters for him is goals and assists."
Schweinsteiger played with Martial for a season before the former Germany international fell out of favour under Jose Mourinho and was demoted into the Under 23s. He played just four times during the 2016/17 season before the midfielder made the move to Chicago Fire. He spent three seasons at the MLS side before hanging up his boots in 2019 - bringing an end to an illustrious 18-year career.
