Jose Mourinho has been delighted with Anthony Martial’s recent displays but the Manchester United manager is concerned his in-form forward is struggling with fatigue ahead of Saturday’s heavyweight clash with Arsenal.
Martial scored his sixth goal of an increasingly productive season during United’s impressive 4-2 win at Watford on Tuesday night which, temporarily at least, cut the gap at the top of the table to five points.
The France international struggled to adapt to Mourinho’s demands during the Special One’s first season at Old Trafford but has now established himself as a key component of a United attack which has already amassed 32 goals in the league this season.
Despite his rapid improvement, Mourinho is concerned that Martial is feeling the effects of playing so many games consecutively and pointed to his second half performance at Vicarage Road as evidence.
‘Yes, I am pleased,’ he said. ‘I think he suffers a little bit with accumulation of matches.
‘I could feel that in the second half he was going down and down and down. He’s still a young guy and his body, his biological situation has space to improve.
‘But in the first half, during the time, he had strength and explosion in his legs and he was dangerous and [scored] an important goal.’
Mourinho is likely to be without Nemanja Matic for Saturday’s trip to the Emirates stadium after the former Chelsea midfielder picked up a muscle injury against Watford.
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