Former Manchester United defender Gary Pallister has praised Adnan Januzaj's attitude to the physical tactics opponents have used to combat him since he burst onto the scene earlier this season.
The 18-year-old's fleet-footed approach has posed problems for defences ever since he shot to national attention with two goals in his first start in the Barclays Premier League, at Sunderland on 5 October.
While calling for referees to protect the youngster from some physical treatment, David Moyes has also demanded that Januzaj deal positively with this approach. Ex-Red Pallister, meanwhile, is impressed with the results so far.
"He is an outstanding talent," Pallister told ManUtd.com. "The way he has been playing tells you an awful lot about the character of the boy.
"The manager has talked about the kicks and the physical attention Adnan gets, and you can see that in every game. He does get targeted – in the Sunderland semi-final he got a couple of bad tackles, which I don't think the referee dealt with very well."
Januzaj's latest performance, in the 2-0 win over Swansea, saw the teenager pull the strings in different roles either side of a half-time tactical switch by manager David Moyes, earning Adnan the Man of the Match award. Pallister is delighted with how the youngster has quickly learned to cope with the close attention he now receives to turn in such influential displays while still being inexperienced.
"Adnan deserves credit, because players are targeting him as he is a threat. He's young and he's not grown into his body just yet, it looks as though he is getting whacked and picked upon. But the great thing about him is that, a bit like Ronaldo when he first came here, he picks himself up, dusts himself down and attacks them straight away.
"He's not fazed or bothered about the physical treatment he gets. He'll get the ball again and attack the same guy that has just kicked him. That is something that you look for in the character of players; once people do try to intimidate them, they don't take a backward step."
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