After a successful season last year, one that saw them lift the League Cup and qualify for the Champions League, Manchester United are now enduring a tumultuous campaign on both the domestic and European fronts.
A 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth over the weekend, labelled as "one of the worst results in the post-Ferguson era" by The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell, obliterated any positive momentum that was building from their 2-1 win over Chelsea. With Bayern Munich coming to Old Trafford on Tuesday, any hope of progressing in Europe seems almost non-existent.
However, if United are to mount a fightback and potentially claw their way into the knockout rounds, Erik ten Hag must drop one of the worst performers from the defeat on Saturday, Anthony Martial.
Anthony Martial's game in numbers vs Bournemouth
The French forward was selected to start over Rasmus Hojlund in the game on Saturday, and while the Dane has yet to score in the Premier League, there is no doubt that he would have been a far more useful player to have on the pitch.
The 28-year-old's performance was so poor that Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News gave him a 3/10 – the lowest rating of any player – and described him as a 'dire downgrade on Rasmus Hojlund' and that his substitution was cheered by the fans – never a good sign.
His individual statistics for the match were just as poor, with the stand-out one being that he lost the ball 12 times during his 56 minutes on the pitch, meaning he lost it once every four and a half minutes – shocking.
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Some of his other less-than-stellar figures from the match include an expected goals number of 0.04 and an expected assists number of 0.02, meaning that he offered essentially no threat whatsoever when he was on the pitch.
Minutes
56
Expected Goals
0.04
Expected Assists
0.02
Shots
1
Shots on Target
1
Touches
35
Passing Accuracy
76%
Possession Lost
12
Crosses (successful)
0 (0)
Dribble attempts (successful)
0 (0)
In fact, he was so ineffective that even Harry Maguire registered a higher expected goal threat than him, with the defender coming in at 0.06 – 50% more dangerous than the former Monaco man.
Rasmus Hojlund must start against Bayern
When the German giants make their way to Old Trafford on Tuesday night they will be hoping that they see Martial lining up opposite them in the tunnel, but if Ten Hag wants to get anything out of this game, he must start Hojlund.
Where the Dane has struggled in front of goal in the Premier League, he has flourished in the Champions League, and as things stand, is the current joint-top scorer this year.
His performances in Europe have been some of the few bright sparks in an otherwise bleak campaign for the three-times champions, as was his performance away to Copenhagen last month.
While the team managed to lose the game 4-3, the former Atalanta striker put in a brilliant performance, scoring two goals, accumulating an expected goals value of 1.93, and registering three shots on target.
Minutes
84
Goals
2
Expected Goals
1.93
Shots on Target
3
Touches
22
Possession Lost
8
Ground Duels (successful)
5 (3)
In his post-match player ratings, Lukhurst gave the youngster an 8/10 – the joint best – and described his performance as 'perfect' and a glimpse of what United could be when they 'perform efficiently.'
Ultimately, the team will likely miss out on the knockout rounds regardless of how the game finishes on Tuesday night, but with Hojlund up top, at least the fans can watch the club's future in action instead of watching a failed past in Anthony Martial.
