Anthony Martial poses for Carabao Cup trophy photo but Manchester United fans all notice the same thing

 

Martial has missed 26 games for the Red Devils through injury this season.

Manchester United forward Anthony Martial watched on from the stands at Wembley Stadium as the Red Devils claimed their first trophy in six years after defeating Newcastle 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

Erik ten Hag's men secured their first piece of silverware since raising the 2016/17 Europa League thanks to first-half goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford.

The 27-year-old Martial scored twice in United's run to the final of the competition, but was forced to miss the final due to a hip injury.

Martial was seemingly determined not to let the setback stop him from enjoying United's big day and shared footage of himself in good after his side ended their long trophy drought, celebrating with teammate Brandon Williams.

Martial has only been fit enough to play 14 times for Man Utd in 2022/23

No stranger to a spell on the sidelines, Martial has now been absent for 26 of the club's 40 games played this season because of fitness issues.

In total, per Transfermarkt, the Frenchman has missed 438 days of action since joining United from Monaco in September 2015.

It's understandable, then, that the player has a pretty close relationship with the club's medical staff.

Martial showed his appreciation for those who have helped him through his injuries by taking a photo with United's physios while raising the Carabao Cup.

Anthony Martial shows his appreciation for the Man Utd medical team after Carabao Cup triumph

Anthony Martial took a pic with the medical team.

This is funny 😀 pic.twitter.com/2ekBvTQ3xR

— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) February 26, 2023

The winger would later upload the picture to social media, where fans couldn't help but comment on the irony of the situation.

Did Martial expose Erik ten Hag's tactics after taking Carabao Cup photo?

While most fans in the comments section on the viral photo were there to poke light-hearted fun at Martial's dreadful luck with injuries, a number of eagle-eyed supporters noticed that United's set-piece routines appeared to feature on laminated print-outs in the background of the snap, which was taken in the club's dressing room.

While Ten Hag almost certainly changes up his set-piece instructions based on the opposition, he might just want Martial to be more aware of his surroundings in the future.

There was no denying United's effectiveness from those set plays during Sunday's final as Casemiro took advantage of a superbly-delivered Luke Shaw free-kick to open the scoring.

 In captioning a separate image of himself holding the trophy aloft, Martial reflected on a memorable day, thanking the United fans for creating an 'amazing atmopshere' as he vowed to return to action soon.