3 Manchester United players who need to step up in Pogba’s absence

From being a confident goalscorer to a player who doesn’t even make the starting eleven every week, things have gone downhill for Martial following an outstanding 2019-20 campaign.

Martial registered 23 goals and 12 assists in 48 matches across all competitions last season, whereas he has been able to record only 7 goals and 8 assists from 29 matches thus far this campaign. And while those are not terrible stats, his performances have left a lot to be desired.

Manchester United signed Edinson Cavani for free to raise competition in the “no 9” position. And Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might have thought that the deadline day signing would eventually lift Martial’s all-round game as it has happened with Luke Shaw, who has improved majestically since Alex Telles made his summer move to United.

But the same has not been the case for the Frenchman. He has appeared to feel the pressure of Cavani being on the bench and has failed to match the standards he set for himself last season.

We can only hope that he is going through a lean patch and will be back to his best very soon. And if he starts to score and assist like we know he can, he can go a long way in filling Pogba’s void, not positionally but in terms of impact.