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Edinson Cavani’s pace of work and movement set the standard for his Manchester United teammates. Should he start ahead of Anthony Martial at Arsenal?
Martial might be considered unlucky to have seen a goal disallowed against Sheffield United following a Harry Maguire infraction, but Manchester United’s first Premier League loss in nearly three months still leaves him under scrutiny.
The French forward was preferred to Edinson Cavani at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, but failed to add to his total of just two Premier League goals this season. Cavani has double in the competition despite starting four games to Martial’s 14.
Preparation for the game saw ravenous praise from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for the 33-year-old Uruguayan. The reactions of his teammates during the victory over Liverpool last weekend had alerted the world to the fact that Cavani has become a leader in the club.
The cameras caught Mason Greenwood listening intently as Cavani gestured at him, telling him what to do. Subsequently, Bruno Fernandes attributed his winning free kick goal to the advice of Cavani, who had encouraged him to shoot the ball to Alisson’s left.
Given his age, the forward had been seen as a desperate deadline to sign for Manchester United, an afterthought hinting at the poor planning that had hampered his preparations.
But since then, Cavani has come through a rocky start that included a three-game suspension for a violation of FA rules in connection with a social media post and the frustration of watching United fight in those first weeks of the season. as he progressed toward full physical form. Everyone is impressed now and the goals tell only part of the story.
“I think we have a lot of leaders,” Captain Harry Maguire said when challenged on that issue earlier this week. “There are definitely a lot of leaders in the locker room.”
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Cavani certainly leads by example, but is that example being heeded? “It’s not going to happen by itself,” Solskjaer said when discussing what his other forwards can learn.
The United manager praised Greenwood for working closely with his more experienced teammate, “learning good habits,” something the player has also discussed.
“You could tell the second he came here,” Greenwood said. “The things he does, the way he dresses, the way he trains, the way he does everything well as a footballer, really.”
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On the field, Solskjaer has speed in his attack and also real talent, but the nous in the penalty area has not always been evident. Cavani has shown that it is not a sixth sense that he possesses. His success in front of goal is a direct result of his hard work.
Both goals in his game-changing contribution off the bench against Southampton in November were spikes facilitated by his willingness to bet on the ball coming his way.
“For me, it’s really his move,” Greenwood added. “I’ve never seen a forward make so many moves. He probably makes the same move six or seven times a game, like the one he had against Southampton, he does every day in practice.
“He scored two for doing the exact same thing. It’s good to see a high-level striker at the club that you can take note of.”
And yet it is Martial who competes most notably with Cavani. The other forwards, Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Daniel James, are used more frequently in the wider positions. It is Martial, 25, who most needs those qualities from Cavani.
“He is there as a mentor,” Solskjaer said. “Everyone has things to learn from Edinson and the more humble and hungry you are to listen, the better you will become. Edinson has been in all positions to score a goal or to recover the ball throughout his career and that’s what there is. . much for them to learn from him. “
Note that Solskjaer mentions the winning qualities of Cavani’s ball. After that Southampton match, he highlighted the fact that his forward was “at the top of the tree” in the career statistics.
Even when he scored 17 goals last season, Martial was criticized for falling short in these areas. He doesn’t have that same appetite for defending from the front, setting the tone for the team, and he doesn’t run those same runs inside the box to design space.
On the contrary, Cavani is a master at it.
“What does it bring? How much time do we have? What it brings is when a forward of that age runs almost 12 kilometers,” Solskjaer said. “He chases every time the center-back has the ball, every time the goalkeeper has the ball, he tackles the midfielders.”
According to Premier League tracking data, Cavani isn’t running 12km per game, but the numbers still show the difference he makes in that role as a center forward.
Compared to Martial’s average speed of 5.78 kilometers per hour, Cavani’s average speed of 6.67 kilometers per hour represents a 15 percent increase in the much younger man. Not that Martial is saving himself for higher intensity runs either: he averages 12.7 sprints per 90 minutes compared to Cavani’s average of 16.3.
Simply put, the tracking data reveals that Martial spends more time walking and jogging. Cavani spends more time running and running.
It is true that Cavani has limited himself to shorter bursts from the bench, as was the case against Sheffield United when he came in midway through the second half. But this does not fully explain its dynamism. He has also run more playing the full 90 minutes.
The first time Cavani played a full Premier League game for United was in the win over Wolves when he ran 10.95 kilometers, the most of any United striker this season. Against Burnley he ran 10.54 kilometers and against Fulham it was 10.41 kilometers.
Martial has yet to run 10km in any game this season. He has only run more than nine kilometers in a Premier League match three times. It is a key point of difference.
Ideally, one suspects that Solskjaer’s long-term hope is that Cavani can influence Martial’s game. If you can add some of those qualities, it will be better. But that doesn’t solve the problem of who should start up front against Arsenal on Saturday.
Saturday January 30 5:00 p.m.
Start 5:30 pm
Cavani’s retirement from the starting lineup could be imminent, and his manager has already helpfully listed many of the reasons for that when discussing his impact on the club this week.
“Your reaction, your pace of work and your habits and your threat in the box and the humility to come every day to do your best. We could go on and on, but your experience and attitude, of course. It has given us a lesson, each of us. “
It’s a lesson Anthony Martial still needs to learn.
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