Anthony Martial as Number 9

kouroux

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If we switch to a high-pressing style (as Ole seems to like talking about), I can't see how Martial will have a place at the club in the medium to long term.

Martial is an old fashioned luxury forward in a footballing world where luxuries don't exist anymore.

All the top top 4 play a high-pressing style, and between them they've taken every major trophy available to English clubs at home and in Europe. I'm pretty sure that's the template that the United coaching staff are hoping to emulate.

But on the specific point of Martial, #9 during the early 2000s would have been his most natural position. In the latter half of that decade, a lot more teams started playing target men who brought goal scoring wingers into box. In that situation, wide forward (#7 or #11) would have been Martial's best position (which is what LvG did with him, being the managerial dinosaur that he was). Martial is a player that likes to wait for the ball to come to him, and doesn't like to worry about the ball when it's not already at his feet. Systems to accomodate him don't exist anymore at the top end of the game.

In 2019? I'm not sure he has a seat at the elite table. If he'd been born 20 years earlier, he'd have been sat next to the best.
He still wouldn't have, compare the top attackers or 20 years ago and compare them to Martial. He's nowhere near that level
 

Dante

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He still wouldn't have, compare the top attackers or 20 years ago and compare them to Martial. He's nowhere near that level
Depends on how big the table is.

To be honest, I agree. I only threw that final line in there to avoid getting 50 alerts from Martial FC.
 

UDontMessWith24

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I still think his best form at the club was when he first arrived as a 19 year old and played a central position. Had he been nurtured in that role and allowed to play through his rough patches which are to be expected with young players, who knows? Don’t get me wrong though, his mental fragility had just as much to do with his current situation.
 

RooneyLegend

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In the right system he'd be great as a forward. If the game runs through him and if the attacking patterns were well defined he'd be brilliant. I.e put him in the Ajax team instead of Tadic and I think they'd have been better.
 

BolehLand

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He is very talented player, made his name before Mbappe did, but eventually fail to impress for years.

He still has good potential to become one of the world class player, need to change his attitude and also under a coach who can bring out his best.

attacking talent wise he is the best that Man Utd have right now.
 

Needham

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"Anthony Martial as number nine." The five saddest words in the English language.
 

Escobar

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He is very talented player, made his name before Mbappe did, but eventually fail to impress for years.

He still has good potential to become one of the world class player, need to change his attitude and also under a coach who can bring out his best.

attacking talent wise he is the best that Man Utd have right now.
I have doubts that he will make it. He doesn't have the tools to apply his skills.
 

Fer

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City have Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Sane, Mahrez, Aguero and Santos in their attack... And they want Felix. Meanwhile, we are thinking about Martial as No.9.

I'm not saying that Martial or Rashford can't score 20+ goals, but we would need to improve in all the areas to get the best out of them.

I can't see Ole signing a top winger, so 442 (diamond) with Martial as one of the strikers could be interesting only If we get a quality No.10, midfielders and RB.
 

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I actually think that over the course of a season you play Rashford as a 9 and Martial as a 9, Anthony gets the most goals given his talent (finishing) it's almost a guarantee.

If Lukaku leaves as there's clearly no great talented forwards we should throw the bank at Dortmund for Sancho or look at a Brooks / Jota.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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Martial should play as a false 9.

Play as a guy who falls deep & tricks the CB to follow him and then gets the ball to feet - then he has the ability to take the CB out with his dribbling finding himself one on one with the goal or haas the ability to make a short pass to the left and right.

Play Rashford like Mane.

Play Greenwood or a New left footed player on the right like Salah.

Play martial as Firminho.

Easy peasy. Better than having Rashford in the middle trying to play like Drogba and Martial playing on the left like Henry at Juventus.
 

roonster09

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Martial should play as a false 9.

Play as a guy who falls deep & tricks the CB to follow him and then gets the ball to feet - then he has the ability to take the CB out with his dribbling finding himself one on one with the goal or haas the ability to make a short pass to the left and right.

Play Rashford like Mane.

Play Greenwood or a New left footed player on the right like Salah.

Play martial as Firminho.

Easy peasy. Better than having Rashford in the middle trying to play like Drogba and Martial playing on the left like Henry at Juventus.
To replicate that, Martial should work like Firmino. Firmino is one of the hardest working player in the league and playing with him is like playing with one more midfielder who plays in false 9 position. On the other hand, Martial is one of the laziest footballer in the league.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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To replicate that, Martial should work like Firmino. Firmino is one of the hardest working player in the league and playing with him is like playing with one more midfielder who plays in false 9 position. On the other hand, Martial is one of the laziest footballer in the league.
That's fair but I have seen plenty false nines who were allowed a freedom to find the best spaces to start an attack.

Further more - if Rashford & Greenwood play as our most advanced but wider forwards - they can do the pressing whilst Martial gets central free space.

Even if that's not good enough - Martial will be better pressing the CB that's directly in front of him than asking him to fall back from LW to LB to help out a fullback. That's something Rashford does well.

We can play martial centrally with an element of freedom to interlink the attack and create chances himself whilst the inverted forwards put a pressure on each side of the defence by occupying and pressing in between the fullbacks & Centre backs. Or we can ask Martial to press forward as a false 9 instead which Lukaku hardly did and was still decent for us under Jose.

If martial is not going to put a defensive shift through the left channel whilst everyone on the right channel is working their a** off - then I'd rather have both channels be defensively occupied whilst asking the team to come at us centrally. This way martial has to do the defensive work that is in front of him whilst also looking to bring the others in to play when he has the ball.

Sure Martial would never get in to Klopp's side - but whilst he is here at United and still wanted by the manager - the best place for him is as a false 9.

The dribbling, the freedom of space, the ability to make short passes to the players around him when the ball is at feet, the ability to hold the ball with the defender on his back, the ability to then turn around that defender which I see him consistently do & also his finishing ability.

Rashford - Greenwood
Martial
 

BelfastBoy11

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Solskjær had it right when he first came into the club as manager. I’m paraphrasing, but he was asked “what can you do to bring the best out of Sanchez?”, who was having an absolute stinker of a season as we all know.

Ole replied saying “it’s not about how I can get the best out of him, he has to produce for us. I’ll give him opportunities to impress but at the end of the day it’s up to him”.

The idea that Martial has never really kicked on because he hasn’t been given a chance or is being played out of position is rubbish, he’s had plenty of chances and has never really kicked on.

He doesn’t make the runs, always comes short to have it to feet, and looks disinterested - not just in the warm up but in the matches too.

I’d love him to have an attitude change and really dig in here, but he hasn’t done it up to now so why would he start?

There are a few other players that I would add into the “had their chance but have failed to impress” group, it’s not about getting the best out of those players, it’s about recruiting players that are better than that, that are MAN UTD players.

At the end of the day, you can’t polish a turd.
 

Art Vandelay

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Solskjær had it right when he first came into the club as manager. I’m paraphrasing, but he was asked “what can you do to bring the best out of Sanchez?”, who was having an absolute stinker of a season as we all know.

Ole replied saying “it’s not about how I can get the best out of him, he has to produce for us. I’ll give him opportunities to impress but at the end of the day it’s up to him”.

The idea that Martial has never really kicked on because he hasn’t been given a chance or is being played out of position is rubbish, he’s had plenty of chances and has never really kicked on.

He doesn’t make the runs, always comes short to have it to feet, and looks disinterested - not just in the warm up but in the matches too.

I’d love him to have an attitude change and really dig in here, but he hasn’t done it up to now so why would he start?

There are a few other players that I would add into the “had their chance but have failed to impress” group, it’s not about getting the best out of those players, it’s about recruiting players that are better than that, that are MAN UTD players.

At the end of the day, you can’t polish a turd.
Exactly. The guy stands around not putting the effort on the wing yet for some reason people want him moved up front to stand around not putting the effort in. He's been given chances and it's no ones fault but his own that he's not pushed on.
 

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He always looks like he’d rather be anywhere else than on a football pitch. Some call it languid, some say it’s his ‘way’.

If I’m a defender I’d be happy to see him on the team sheet knowing I’ll likely get a holiday during the game at some point.

I’d say no or should I say 9.
 
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Sparky_Hughes

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Only number 9 that should be applied in relation to martial is a number 9 bus taking him to another club.
 

meninred

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He seems he needs space to operate maybe that's why he may be playing as a winger.i also think he needs a good coach to get the best of him.
 

Bestofthebest

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I believe I'm right in thinking that no one has made any attempt to buy Martial and I have not seen his name mentioned in any gossip ( same goes for Lingard ) so I think we can assume they will both be with us next season. The thought of having Martial playing as a central striker fills me with dread. He is so laid back and appears to have no aggression in him so I can't see him bothering any opposition defenders. The sight of his sulky face makes me not want to see him in the line up which is a real shame because when he first appeared for us he looked the real deal. Even last season there were occasional glimpses of his touch and composure but too few and far between. Not sure where it all went wrong but the blame cannot be laid OGS's feet.
 

MattyB1986

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While Pogba was getting all of the stick. This dude is the laziest player in our squad. He never moves, only when he has the ball to feet. :lol:
 

Wheato

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Martial is still an unknown quantity. He seems to prefer playing on the left and cutting in, but he has been pretty average in that position. Even in games where we have won and dominated, he hasn't really shone. I'm struggling to think of a good game he has had since LVG was in charge. Many people seem to put him at a level that he doesn't really ever live up to. I can't really see him becoming a top player. It's been 3 years and he hasn't really done anything special. And he doesn't seem the slightest bit bothered about it, either. Nobody is linked to him. Wonder why?
 

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Martial is still an unknown quantity. He seems to prefer playing on the left and cutting in, but he has been pretty average in that position. Even in games where we have won and dominated, he hasn't really shone. I'm struggling to think of a good game he has had since LVG was in charge. Many people seem to put him at a level that he doesn't really ever live up to. I can't really see him becoming a top player. It's been 3 years and he hasn't really done anything special. And he doesn't seem the slightest bit bothered about it, either. Nobody is linked to him. Wonder why?
Maybe because he has his contract sorted and has in a way committed his best years to the club. Make of that what you will.

And therefore his agent doesn't need to generate fake / non-existent interest of other clubs like say Barcelona in order to force the club's hand in giving him desired contract.
 

Luke1995

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Honestly we would be better off with Zlatan. The desire and commitement he offered was unbelievable... as long as Martial lacks in that, he won't get to the top level.
 

NoPace

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In the right system he'd be great as a forward. If the game runs through him and if the attacking patterns were well defined he'd be brilliant. I.e put him in the Ajax team instead of Tadic and I think they'd have been better.
If we loaned Martial to Ajax for a year I wouldn't complain. He's signed until 2024 and he has a ton of talent and seems to be miles behind where he should be in tactics and effort.

If Ole doesn't work out here, we really should think about hiring whoever we think the best manager is at developing young players. Like literally hire whoever we think the best academy coach in Europe is. People seem to think a director of football would cover this, but a manager who can improve Rashford, Martial, Dalot, Tuanzebe, Gomes, Greenwood and Shaw (maybe Mctominay and then there's the guys like Garner and Laird I haven't seen enough but people seem to rate) and teach them to play smart football in a clear system would be my first priority.
 

sp_107

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He got enough chances, I would get rid of him but he is lucky that recently he got an extension and we need to address other areas first !

As we are not like Madrid buy players for all positions we need so I feel Martial and Shaw are in same bracket that they are OK but we can well with an ugrade

If we fix right side in this window then we can upgrade left side in next summer
 

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I'm really looking forward to seeing him next season. Should be his real break out season along with Rashford, everything is in place for it soon as we get another right winger.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Martial should play as a false 9.

Play as a guy who falls deep & tricks the CB to follow him and then gets the ball to feet - then he has the ability to take the CB out with his dribbling finding himself one on one with the goal or haas the ability to make a short pass to the left and right.

Play Rashford like Mane.

Play Greenwood or a New left footed player on the right like Salah.

Play martial as Firminho.

Easy peasy. Better than having Rashford in the middle trying to play like Drogba and Martial playing on the left like Henry at Juventus.
You make it sounds easy. To be a good false 9, he requires to have good vision & pass (at least on Benzema & Firmino level but he’s nowhere near), very good off ball movement, & capable to bring others into play.

Martial is not well known with his passing, vision & off ball movement. His main asset which many people always rate it highly is his finishing & may be his dribbling.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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You make it sounds easy. To be a good false 9, he requires to have good vision & pass (at least on Benzema & Firmino level but he’s nowhere near), very good off ball movement, & capable to bring others into play.

Martial is not well known with his passing, vision & off ball movement. His main asset which many people always rate it highly is his finishing & may be his dribbling.
False nines are not there for off the ball movement behind the defence. What they do is roam around the free space to find an advantage on the defensive line before they take them on with the ball at their feet.

This is what Martial does both centrally and as a winger & apart from his lazyness is one of the main reasons he doesn't run behind the defence. I think his short passing to other players is great & I have seen plenty goals where he makes short passing in to players like Rashford & Lingard for them to set Martial back for a return.

I agree he isn't particularly great at making through balls yet - but I don't see why that's something he can't improve on.

Ultimately - Martial for me as a false 9 puts Martial in his best position which is central. It puts Rashford in his best position as an inverted forward utilising his best foot at an angle and remaining as a wider based forward. James might be meant for there too. Greenwood can do the exact same thing as Rashford but use his left foot on the right & if we can get a more ready made player in that position that would be good too.

If we can get a new false 9 even like Felix I would be happy with that because Martial can atleast play as a back up.

Good ability to drop off the defenders in to deep areas, good ability to hold up the ball and make short passes or turn around directly to bypass the defenders. Good finishing from central areas.

Things that he lacks is a work rate & heading ability.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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False nines are not there for off the ball movement behind the defence. What they do is roam around the free space to find an advantage on the defensive line before they take them on with the ball at their feet.

This is what Martial does both centrally and as a winger & apart from his lazyness is one of the main reasons he doesn't run behind the defence. I think his short passing to other players is great & I have seen plenty goals where he makes short passing in to players like Rashford & Lingard for them to set Martial back for a return.

I agree he isn't particularly great at making through balls yet - but I don't see why that's something he can't improve on.

Ultimately - Martial for me as a false 9 puts Martial in his best position which is central. It puts Rashford in his best position as an inverted forward utilising his best foot at an angle and remaining as a wider based forward. James might be meant for there too. Greenwood can do the exact same thing as Rashford but use his left foot on the right & if we can get a more ready made player in that position that would be good too.

If we can get a new false 9 even like Felix I would be happy with that because Martial can atleast play as a back up.

Good ability to drop off the defenders in to deep areas, good ability to hold up the ball and make short passes or turn around directly to bypass the defenders. Good finishing from central areas.

Things that he lacks is a work rate & heading ability.
Off ball movement doesn’t always mean running or movement behind the defense. It’s about movement when the player isn’t on the ball. And Martial is well known to be player more static than moving around and it’s not because he doesn’t know how to move but to me because he’s lazy and doesn’t have the stamina to keep moving around when off ball. Thus, he’s not capable to roam around find a free space for himself until he works on his laziness & stamina.

And with his current vision & passing ability he will be even less suitable for the role. His main asset is finishing and probably dribbling.
 

kouroux

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Martial in any other position than on the left on a long term basis would expose his current limitations as a footballer. He is good where is, he "just" needs to add more energy into his game and stop day dreaming
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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Off ball movement doesn’t always mean running or movement behind the defense. It’s about movement when the player isn’t on the ball. And Martial is well known to be player more static than moving around and it’s not because he doesn’t know how to move but to me because he’s lazy and doesn’t have the stamina to keep moving around when off ball. Thus, he’s not capable to roam around find a free space for himself until he works on his laziness & stamina.

And with his current vision & passing ability he will be even less suitable for the role. His main asset is finishing and probably dribbling.
And that's why I say - Martial is very good at making runs deep and to roam to find himself taking players on at an angle.

Martial is not good at making runs behind the defence but i have seen him dropping in deep, roaming to receive the ball away from the CB so he can take them on directly. He does make runs but not behind the defence.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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And that's why I say - Martial is very good at making runs deep and to roam to find himself taking players on at an angle.

Martial is not good at making runs behind the defence but i have seen him dropping in deep, roaming to receive the ball away from the CB so he can take them on directly. He does make runs but not behind the defence.
You aren’t reading my post at all!!

I said off ball movement is about movement when player isn’t on the ball and Martial is bad on it and that’s why he’s not capable to keep moving around when he’s not on the ball to find a free space where he can get the ball & he’s not capable to deliver the ball with his current vision & passing ability. Centre back & defensive mid will be easily marking him.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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You aren’t reading my post at all!!

I said off ball movement is about movement when player isn’t on the ball and Martial is bad on it and that’s why he’s not capable to keep moving around when he’s not on the ball to find a free space where he can get the ball & he’s not capable to deliver the ball with his current vision & passing ability. Centre back & defensive mid will be easily marking him.
And I disagree. I find that he moves around everywhere fine except behind the defence when he doesn't have the ball.

I want to see more goals like Martial vs Cardiff in Ole's first match - Rashford, & Lingard & Martial playing cohesively. Hopefully Greenwood replaces Lingard in that bunch. And aslong Rashford & Martial are still at United - I really find it hard to see why Rashford is better centrally and Martial is better out wide when i think the opposite way is better.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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And I disagree. I find that he moves around everywhere fine except behind the defence when he doesn't have the ball.

I want to see more goals like Martial vs Cardiff in Ole's first match - Rashford, & Lingard & Martial playing cohesively. Hopefully Greenwood replaces Lingard in that bunch. And aslong Rashford & Martial are still at United - I really find it hard to see why Rashford is better centrally and Martial is better out wide when i think the opposite way is better.
People call him static but you are the only one think he moves around everywhere fine. You need to pay close attention on Martial, how often he was just standing in his spot, get marked easily by defender instead of moving around to find free space.

If you want to see him scoring goal like the one against Cardiff then you better get rid the plan of him being false 9. The first job for false 9 isn’t about scoring goals but bring others into play with vision & passing. You look at Firmino & Benzema as good examples of false 9.

Martial wants to score & likes to score, that’s why he prefers his position as a striker. False 9 requires more movement off the ball than a striker, and there is better chance of him to improve his off ball movement as a striker than off ball movement as false 9.
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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People call him static but you are the only one think he moves around everywhere fine. You need to pay close attention on Martial, how often he was just standing in his spot, get marked easily by defender instead of moving around to find free space.

If you want to see him scoring goal like the one against Cardiff then you better get rid the plan of him being false 9. The first job for false 9 isn’t about scoring goals but bring others into play with vision & passing. You look at Firmino & Benzema as good examples of false 9.

Martial wants to score & likes to score, that’s why he prefers his position as a striker. False 9 requires more movement off the ball than a striker, and there is better chance of him to improve his off ball movement as a striker than off ball movement as false 9.
Never said such thing.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Never said such thing.
And I disagree. I find that he moves around everywhere fine except behind the defence when he doesn't have the ball.

I want to see more goals like Martial vs Cardiff in Ole's first match - Rashford, & Lingard & Martial playing cohesively. Hopefully Greenwood replaces Lingard in that bunch. And aslong Rashford & Martial are still at United - I really find it hard to see why Rashford is better centrally and Martial is better out wide when i think the opposite way is better.
 

jojojo

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People call him static but you are the only one think he moves around everywhere fine. You need to pay close attention on Martial, how often he was just standing in his spot, get marked easily by defender instead of moving around to find free space.
He also has the habit of just standing there waiting as the ball comes towards him, totally ignoring that the defender is already moving to intercept it. It's as if he expects other people to stand still as well.

It's part of why I just can't imagine him in a false 9 or number 10 role, as nice as it would be to see his close control used there. I just can't visualise him ever being the first to a pass in the middle, or moving to a position where he's not immediately trapped. I don't think he'd ever see the ball and it wouldn't be the fault of his teammates.