Is Martial the best dribbler in the league?

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I've thought this for a long time. He's just so silky on the ball, that it must be a nightmare to get the ball off him. We should be getting penalties galore if we get the ball to him in the box

Who else is up there in the league? Bernardo? Salah?
 

roonster09

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No, Pulisic is the best dribbler in the league, him, Adama and Maximin.
 

Revan

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Sancho is, all the havoc he is causing for our opponents every match. :drool:
 

AgentP

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There are no standout dribblers in the league as of now. Hazard was the best we had in the last 5-6 years.
 

SteveW

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He isn't. He's got an unfortunate habit of showing a little too much of the ball to the last defender and getting dispossessed when he's almost in on goal. It happened again against Leicester when he tried to cut inside Morgan onto his right in the first half. With a little more disguise in those situations he would be unstoppable with his natural power, speed and silky touch.

I think he will go from strength to strength now that he has found the right manager to develop him. I've never seen him so determined and committed looking as he has been lately. You can tell he feels completely at home and is desperate for the club to succeed. It's visible in his work rate and his celebrations every time we score a goal.

We are very lucky Jose wasn't given his way.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Statistically, it's Adama if you go by whoscored.

Martial also has too many unsuccessful dribbles compared to successful according to that site(similar to Pulisic).
 

lenny_1248

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I'd dare to say he has the best close control in the league. Certainly in top-3, top-5.
But in order to be the best dribbler in the league, you should do it far more often than Martial does it now. So, obviously not.
 

roonster09

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Pulisic has almost as many unsuccessful dribbles as successful dribbles according to whoscored.
Maybe, some of the dribbles he pulls off is fantastic, quick feet, very agile, excellent close control. It's like watching budget Hazard.
 

E-mal

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In order of ability
0. Sancho
1. Grealish
2. Maximin
3. Adama
4. Kovacic
5. Pulisic
6. Mane
7. Pogba
8. Martial
9. The rest
 

gajender

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I'm assuming cheeky answer is Sancho
Yeah I forgot about him our front 3 with him would be real nightmare for the league and Europe and I also think our current front three would also go level up with real competition for places.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Amazingly, the only players who completed more successful dribbles than Adama this past season were Messi and Neymar.

I wonder if a top 6 club will go for him in the summer.
 

Jeffthered

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If you are being serious with this question then I feel you may be getting carried away.

Martial is no great dribbler. There are few really top players who can genuinely 'beat a man..'

Mane is way, way, way, way ahead of him. You also need intelligence to be a good dribbler, when and what you do, why.

Pogba, Mane, CR7, Neymar, and of course Messi... These players have the ability to take their opponent on, and usually make a good decision at the end it.
 

In Rainbows

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There's no way Martial is the best. Maybe top 10 statistically. Maybe somewhere 10-20.
 

E-mal

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If you are being serious with this question then I feel you may be getting carried away.

Martial is no great dribbler. There are few really top players who can genuinely 'beat a man..'

Mane is way, way, way, way ahead of him. You also need intelligence to be a good dribbler, when and what you do, why.

Pogba, Mane, CR7, Neymar, and of course Messi... These players have the ability to take their opponent on, and usually make a good decision at the end it.
When last have you watched him play?
The guy is no great dribbler and lost most of this ability when he left Man Utd.
 

gajender

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When last have you watched him play?
The guy is no great dribbler and lost most of this ability when he left Man Utd.
Though I agree with him Martial isn't the best dribbler not even close but he doesn't need to be but the poster is known Martial critic he didn't lose opportunity even here to take potshots at Martial with intelligence comment.
 

Jeffthered

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When last have you watched him play?
The guy is no great dribbler and lost most of this ability when he left Man Utd.
Which tells me much about how many 'watch' football nowadays. CR7 no longer has that explosive pace, but CR7 still has more than enough ability (and experience which is crucial... ) to use his ball skills, the ability to manipulate the ball to take opponents off balance, and then deliver his shot, pass etc.

Good dribbling requires intelligence and an outcome.

Rashford is a far better and more effective dribbler than Martial.

Martial should worry less about cutting inside on his right foot, which he always does, and work on using his left foot (like CR7 did...) and use his head as any very, very top centre forward should.
 

sherrinford

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It's good to see an element of power back in his game. Martial was a dynamite dribbler when he arrived here but the explosiveness he displayed in his first season has been absent for long stretches during the rest of his time here.

He was the only player to maintain the sharpness in his play during the run-in, and I think had he picked up the ball more in areas where he could face up an isolated defender there would be more evidence of him troubling opponents carrying the ball.

Adama Traore was, hands down, the best dribbler I saw in the Premier League last season.
 

romufc

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I would say Martial is one of the best in the league when it comes to close control dribbling.

The other names mentioned are wingers where they have space. Martial is generally up against the CB and the full backs tucking in.
 

Andersons Dietician

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There are no standout dribblers in the league as of now. Hazard was the best we had in the last 5-6 years.
Have to agree, would have been Hazard but there isn’t a standout now. Martial does have great close control at speed when he is dribbiling through people so he is probably up there but no one really stands out to me.
 

lysglimt

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Statistically, it's Adama if you go by whoscored.

Martial also has too many unsuccessful dribbles compared to successful according to that site(similar to Pulisic).
Adama is not a very good dribbler, he is just a brilliant combination of balance, strength and acceleration. Kanchelskis was basically unstopable as well for us in the early 90s - but he was a lousy dribbler. He just was too Quick for everyone:)

Chris Waddle is probably one of the best dribblers I have seen - he had almost no pace, and still could get past any defender
 

In Rainbows

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Adama is not a very good dribbler, he is just a brilliant combination of balance, strength and acceleration. Kanchelskis was basically unstopable as well for us in the early 90s - but he was a lousy dribbler. He just was too Quick for everyone:)

Chris Waddle is probably one of the best dribblers I have seen - he had almost no pace, and still could get past any defender
I don't think that matters. At the end of the day, you use the tools you have available to you in order to go past defenders.
 

Adam-Utd

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in tight areas and running at speed then yes, but I think there's better at 1v1's statistically.

He keeps the ball a little too close to the opponent, could do with shifting it side to side a bit more - but there isn't many better strikers with the ball at their feet.
 

Jeffthered

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I don't think that matters. At the end of the day, you use the tools you have available to you in order to go past defenders.
So therefore the likes of say, Drogba (power, determination, authority, pace...) was a good dribbler?

Hazard was the best I have seen in a while in the Premiership... Mane is the best I see right now, and even he rarely glides like a Messi etc. Martial in my opinion is pretty one dimensional in terms of being a 'dribbler'.
 

Arka_BleedingRed

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Basically, if you were to broadly divide dribbling into 2 categories : 1. Close control dribbling, associated with extreme ball control and manipulation, silky touch, body feints, short efficient movements, 2. Explosive dribbling, associated with skill moves, high flair, quicker and explosive movements, high risk, high reward style, Martial along with Messi, Hazard, Sancho, Kovacic, Pogba, Iniesta, B. Silva would fall into the first type while Cristiano(United version), Rashford, Zaha, Mane, Adama, St. Maximin would come under the second one. Neymar, Luiz Ronaldo, Ronaldinho would for me be the best of both worlds. Martial's ball manipulation in tight spaces is second to none, that is for sure, using his natural close control of the ball and power in tandem.
Type 1 in EPL now, top 4: Kovacic, Bernardo Silva, Martial, Pogba.
Type 2 in EPL now: top 4: Adama, St. Maximin, Zaha, Mane.
 

charlenefan

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Based on what I've seen this season I'd say Pulisic