Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha believes the pressure on Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial is unfair as he feels they do not have the squad around them who can get the best out of them.
Rashford has scored just once from open play this season and Martial has been out of action since the end of August due to a hamstring injury.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to move out Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez this summer has left the Manchester United squad short of firepower up front.
Rashford and Martial have struggled to step up and Solskjaer has been forced to depend on 17-year-old Mason Greenwood to get the goals.
But Saha feels the pressure to perform on the Manchester United duo has been unfair as while they have enormous potential, they are still young strikers who are not playing in a great team.
The former Red Devil pointed out that he had big players around him when he was Manchester United, which is not the case for Rashford, Martial or Paul Pogba in the current team.
“Don’t get me wrong, those guys have talent and all that — I really like the potential, it is enormous”, Saha told The Athletic.
“But they are playing in a configuration where there is no link to express themselves.
“I had big players around me. If I was not performing people could blame the squad, the tactics.
“‘Cristiano [Ronaldo] hasn’t scored?’ We didn’t play well. ‘[Ruud] van Nistelrooy didn’t score?’ He didn’t have the opportunities, we didn’t cross. Because the guy: He. Will. Score.
“Now, you look, and the excuse is, ‘Pogba hasn’t played.’ It is crazy to put a club in this position. I’m sorry but you can’t put the blame on Rashford, you can’t put the blame on Martial, you can’t put the blame on the newcomers.
“Who is big enough in that squad to be saying, ‘This is falling down’? Apart from Pogba. It is unfair on him, unfair on the squad.”
Martial has returned to training and could be part of the Manchester United squad when they host Liverpool at Old Trafford this weekend.
