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Smalling: I´d hate to play against Martial

SoccerNews in General Soccer News 4 Oct 2015

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Manchester United defender Chris Smalling has given team-mate Anthony Martial the ultimate compliment, insisting he would hate to play against the teen sensation.

Martial has scored four goals in six matches across all competitions following his £36million arrival from Monaco last month.

There were doubts as to whether making 19-year-old Martial the most expensive teenage footballer in history was the right decision by United, but the Frenchman has silenced the critics from the outset.

Martial has terrorised opposition defenders and even his own team-mates, including Smalling, whose United face Arsenal on Sunday.

“Playing against him in training you know the handful that he is. You can see what he does in games,” Smalling said.

“He’s probably the one forward I’d stick at the top of the list of who I wouldn’t want to play against at the moment.

“We play 11 against 11 in training so I come up against him and other forwards. He’s quick and has that skill.

“Anthony has added that injection of unpredictability up front where he can turn players and run at them.

“But people are surprised by how strong he is. He was up against two very physical defenders against Wolfsburg in the Champions League and obviously every week in the league. But he has more than handled himself.

“He’s running into channels. Against Wolfsburg we knew they would make the pitch big with two wingers, so we knew if we slid it down the sides of their centre-backs, he has the beating of anybody.”

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