Rotherham United and the enigma of a 'World Cup' player not at the top of his game

The young Dutchman impressed in the early stages of his time in South Yorkshire following his summer arrival but his form has slipped in recent weeks and he has even been left out of the matchday 18 on one occasion.

Manager Matt Hamshaw conceded that the skilful attacker may have “lost his way a little bit”.

Martha – who represents the nation of his parents' birth, Curacao - left Belgian football to move to the League One Millers and, at the age of only 22, is still adapting to the challenge of proving himself a long way from home.

“It's tough coming from a different country to play a different style of football,” Hamshaw said. “He doesn't have the luxury of having family near him and around him, obviously. But he made that sacrifice when he came here.

“I think there's a lot that goes into it. I don't think it's a case of he's qualified for a World Cup and he's now thought: 'You know what, I'll be rubbish for Rotherham because I'm going into a World Cup.'

“You could argue he's lost his way a little bit. But you expect that at times through the season. I've shown him his clips, we've shown him what he's good at.”

The boss was speaking to the Advertiser late last week, after a reasonable substitute's appearance by Martha in a 1-0 loss at Bradford City and before better displays as a starter in the win over Plymouth Argyle and the draw with Mansfield Town.

The player is due to head to America in the summer as part of a Curacao set-up competing in the World Cup Finals for the first time.

For Rotherham, he has played 35 times this term – including a superb performance in a televised 2-2 home draw with Bradford in October – and scored two goals.

He was omitted from the squad for the 1-0 loss at Burton Albion on February 17 as a wake-up call.

Speaking about the more recent Bradford match, Hamshaw said: “I thought that Ar'Jany made an impact the other night when he came on, and that's what I expect from him.

“There have been weeks where he's come on and looked a bit lost. I understand his confidence might be a bit low, but we need our big players to stand up.”

The drop-zone Millers are battling for their third-tier survival and head to play-off-chasing Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town this Saturday.

They will be hoping that Martha finds his best form as they seek to bridge the two-point gap between them and safety.

It was put to Hamshaw that it might be a case that his number 11 has dipped as the initial excitement of the switch from Beerschot has worn away.

“I think that a lot of things go off,” the manager said. “The team has been through good bits and bad bits this season and that can affect you.

“I 'get' the frustration. I left him out for a game and that will have killed him. He needs to make sure that he's playing well enough to go to that World Cup, not think 'I've done all right at the start of the season and we've qualified' and then drop off.

“We've spoken to him about that and, look, his standards have to be raised, as those of some others do.”