Martial Godot has starred for Wigan this season
Two years ago the game against his boyhood team Manchester United was for Martial Godot a distant dream. , when he fought on the muddy fields of the Isthmian League in the seventh level. He thought it would happen sooner or later, but at the time the short-term goal was to learn how to quickly recover from a loss to experienced non-league defenders.
As a teenage winger in a man's world, he was faced with a dilemma. Jump over obstacles and avoid being hit? Or take a risk, carry the ball and fight? The latter was the only way to attract attention while playing for Margate, so he took the beating. Fulham were impressed and offered him a trial and a deal and now, while he is on loan at Wigan, Godot has been called up to the England U20 squad.
He calls these two years crazy. At Margate he considered moving further down the pyramid to begin a career that had seen him rejected by most clubs in London for being too small. In the end, Godot got on their team and believed that he could handle it. His club was sponsored by The Libertines, but there was no rock 'n' roll attitude at the club. While others drank pints, Godot believed he could still make it to the Premier League.
“You will be broken, and you will rise again. In the beginning at Margate I tried to overcome the difficulties and they saw that it was working,” Godot said. “I had to admit it and say, the way I play, I'm going to get beat. It's about how you get up. I got beat two or three times a game, but it helped me become a man. You take that into the academy and into men's football.
“It helps you: if you shy away from problems, you don't want the ball as much and you're not going to take risks. For me, I love entertaining the fans as much as I love the statistics. But if I don't want to dribble the ball or tackle an opponent, then I won't be a great player. It was about changing your mentality, just getting back.»
Martial Godot caught the eye while playing for Margate < p>Godot, 20, was a United fan as a child and felt they could go straight to the FA Cup. When he talks about wanting to entertain the crowd, it's no surprise that his favorite United player was Dimitar Berbatov. He grew up wearing a United uniform but spent his time playing in the Greenwich cages rather than watching the team he supported. I'll see them live for the first time when I play against them on Monday.
“Cristiano Ronaldo was obvious, but I was only five or six years old when he played for United,” Godot said. “When I watched them properly, my favorite was Berbatov. I just loved how elegant he was.”
His journey to the Premier League was like Waiting for Godot. He was tested by Tottenham, West Ham and Arsenal but was rejected. Charlton forced him to play friendlies and train for a year without a contract, and then clubs further afield London didn't want to take the risk, including Ipswich and Colchester.
“When I was at Charlton I had Osgood-Schlatter disease in my knee,” he said. “I started growing a little between 14 and 15, then stopped, then from 16 to 18, it was gradual, then lockdown happened and I grew a few more inches to about 5ft 10in. I was 5ft 3in or 4in and that's why I didn't get into Charlton or West Ham. I was too small.
“I was still growing as a late bloomer, but I knew I still had the technical ability. Even at 18 there were ups and downs because I was one of the youngest in the Margate team and didn't play, but I took my chance when it came. Before I left, it was about who I should sign because there were a lot of teams signing me.”
Fulham were a good choice for Godot. He underwent a month's trial and Marco Silva was impressed enough to give him his debut in the EFL Cup last season. After training with the first team, he was going to stay at the club for this season, and it was only because of Sean Maloney that he was sent out on loan.
“It was a deadline and the head coach called me. He said a lot of clubs approached me, but he said no to all of them because he wanted me to be on his radar until at least January,” Godot said. “But he was at Hull with Sean Maloney and said I was a contender for the starting job and they had a plan and a path to play there at Wigan.
“He said it was difficult to put me in this position because I did very well at the academy. But it was too easy. So I could play men's football week after week or hang out with the first team here and wait for my chance. I sat down with my family and had four or five hours to make a decision. I thought: “Why am I staying at Fulham… just to stay in the academy?”
was named Martial Godot PL2 Player of the Month for August before joining Wigan on loan
It turned out to be the right decision. He excelled at Wigan and now has the chance to show it against United. Maloney helped coach the position he held throughout his Cup-winning career with Wigan.
“Keeping discipline and patience were the key words for a coach,” he said. “Being trustworthy gives me confidence. He says he wants me to keep going even if I lose the ball. Again. Go again.”
The reward was recognition from England. But Godot wants more than the glamor of the FA Cup and playing for the Under-20s. “Singing the national anthem was surreal,” he said. “Moving from non-league to England is crazy but I like to think it's the bare minimum, it has to be normal for me, I can't just be happy, I have to keep going and develop the under-20s.”
Свежие комментарии