Solskjaer urged to imitate Tuchel to motivate Martial after 'non-existent' display

talkSPORT has been told the Frenchman is suffering with 'confidence issues' up front, but it was his manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who has came under questioning over his verdict on his misfiring striker.

Having secured a dramatic win in their previous game against the same opponent, confidence would have been high in the United squad.

That was short lived, however, as the Irons' exacted their revenge in the League Cup on Wednesday night, and at Old Trafford too, with the hosts only registering six shots on target from 27 attempts.

Following the game, talkSPORT host Jamie O'Hara criticised Solskjaer for his responses about Martial and another poor outing from the 25-year-old, and was told to follow the example set by Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.

After the match, Solskjaer said when asked about Martial's ineffective display: "I don't think it's right to go into individual performances.

"Antho was the same as the rest of the team. We played some nice football, just we lacked some of that cutting edge and he knows what we want from him. He keeps on working and he'll get his chances."

Former Tottenham midfielder O'Hara on the Sports Bar: "I want him to be like Thomas Tuchel, who comes out and is honest, like when Saul was taken off at half-time, but he [Solskjaer] gives these politically boring answers.

With that being said, O'Hara's ex-Spurs teammate Jonathan Woodgate believes the United manager could not have said anything else.

The former centre-back replied: "Jamie what do you want him to say? Do you want him to come in and hammer Anthony Martial?

"You can see Martial has got a confidence issue at the minute, so he needs to stay on his side, he needs him. If you're the gaffer you aren't going to start caning him in public are you? You can't, not at this stage.

"Maybe behind closed doors he is [telling him what to do] and he's getting him and he's showing him and he's doing it on the training pitch.

"Maybe he is, but he isn't going to sit there and cane his centre-forward in pubic, he has to say that, let's be honest."

Despite Martial's lack of confidence, it was a glorious opportunity to force his way into Solskjaer's plans, especially with Cristiano Ronaldo leading the line in the Premier League and Champions League games since his return this summer.

Sadly for him, he was unable to make the most of it and former Chelsea midfielder Andy Townsend was condemning of his performance as he sat in the talkSPORT commentary booth at Old Trafford.

"I'm afraid people like Anthony Martial, non-existent, nothing from him, nothing from him at all," he said.

"He had a couple of chances, didn't make the most of those and disappeared."