Anthony Martial's progress encapsulates the effect Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is having at Man Utd
It's a sign of how far Anthony Martial has come under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he was the first player to be taken off once Manchester United went three goals up at Fulham on Saturday.
With a daunting Champions League round of 16 first leg against Paris Saint-Germain looming, Solskjaer decided that with the game won at Craven Cottage he needed to save his most important players.
It's hard to believe that it was only six months ago that Jose Mourinho was ready to sell Martial after the Frenchman left a pre-season tour early to attend the birth of his son in Paris. It's fair to say on current form there are few more dangerous players in the entire Premier League.
Along with Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford, Martial has seen his career revived under the guidance of a new manager, and one that encourages his forwards to attack with pace. That suits Martial down to the ground.
"He [Solskjaer] is asking me to attack more, that's my job after all", Martial said on Monday. "He's asking me to be more decisive. I can only say we all hope we can continue to play like this."
In seven Premier League appearances under Solskjaer, Martial has dribbled past 13 players. In 13 games under Mourinho this season, he beat only 10 players.
He has arguably been the greatest beneficiary of Solskjaer's encouragement of United's players to be direct in how they attack, to think about scoring whenever they get the ball. That was evident in his goal at Fulham this weekend, when he carried the ball from inside his own half, past a group of helpless defenders and into the box before finishing coolly past Sergio Rico.
He is scarcely recognisable from the player that was so patently unhappy under Mourinho, suddenly once again a player with a bright future ahead of him.
Solskjaer spoke recently about the need for Martial to "sniff" out more ugly goals, in much the way Cristiano Ronaldo does so well. He is on course to record his best-ever goal tally for a league season, with his strike on Saturday his ninth for the season and his previous best standing at 11 in his first campaign in Manchester. Indeed a player of his ability should probably be aiming for 15 goals a season.
Now 23, his career is back on track after a period of stagnation over the last few years. Give how he started - with a stunning debut goal against Liverpool in August 2015 at the age of just 19 - the fact that he is only now starting to kick on leaves you wondering whether if the last few years have been rather wasted. Martial started just 45 of Mourinho's 93 Premier League games in charge of United.
Solskjaer seems to understand the strengths of his attackers far better than Mourinho, and his suggestion that United do not need to go out and sign a load of new "superstars" to challenge for the title not only shows a confidence in the likes of Martial but also a desire to give everyone already at the club ample opportunity to prove themselves.
Mourinho had been ready to give up on Martial, but with Solskjaer now manning the ship, there is every reason to believe he can fulfill his vast potential. And with Neymar absent for PSG on Tuesday night for a tie that United will fully believe they can win, everything is set up for another left-winger to take centre stage.
