Scholes Interview

lsd

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He is totally right about Martial especially about how he has conned people into thinking he is a centre forward.

I am amazed at the amount of posters who cannot see how much better off we would be with a proper number 9.

There is more to being a number 9 than scoring goals although that is a big part . We need a focal point of our attack a constant threat who can hold the ball up and creating space to bring others into play . Martial cannot do that on a consistent basis .

Look how well Everton are doing at the moment and much of it is down to Calvert Lewin
 

acnumber9

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Crazy. Martial is basically the last starter we should be replacing, was our best and most consistent player last season. How about a word on Rashy and Dan James that have been 10 times worse? Maybe if we had decent wingers and FBs that can attack our ST would be better.
One goal and one assist more than Rashford last season, one which Rashford had to play while coming back from a broken back, and he was 10 times better? What a crock of shite.
 

romufc

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There is more to being a number 9 than scoring goals although that is a big part . We need a focal point of our attack a constant threat who can hold the ball up and creating space to bring others into play . Martial cannot do that on a consistent basis .
Looks like you haven't watched much of Martial.

Martial is very good at bringing players into play and linking them, it is a very underrated skill of his.
 

Sylar

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Regarding his Martial comments, its weird. I mean most clubs strikers who go for the golden boot are their penalty takers right?
Vardy, Auba, Kane, Salah?
United had about 15 pens last season. Let say Martial was on penalty duty, even if he scores half of them, you could add another 7 goals to his tally (he had like 17 league goals right?)

Numbers might be off here and there, but still, thats pretty impressive especially given he was injured for about 3 months (and who our midfield was in the first half of the season)
 

acnumber9

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According to Transfermarkt it's 208 minutes. Big difference...

Not that is matters, as he would look stupid even if was way more than 208 minutes.
Well that would ignore him playing against Sevilla after that comment and playing for France. If somebody is going to get their knickers in a twist pointing things out they should at least try to be correct themselves.
 

Deery

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So Scholes who has played midfield field consistently at the highest level, winning 2 Champions leagues and 11 premier leagues is an idiot according to some clowns on an Internet forum, because his opinion doesn’t match theirs, okay..
 

FrankDrebin

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I do think Martial needs a strike partner, Cavani could hopefully be that guy .

What formation/set-up we'll play for that to happen is anyone's guess.
 

amolbhatia50k

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I disagree with his view on Sancho,I actually think that Sancho would have been perfect for us in many ways.He could have dovetailed seamlessly with Rashford,Martial and Greenwood and we could have had a devastating front 3.A lot of teams don’t play with a traditional 9 these days....Who is Liverpool’s number 9?
Same here. I think a creative winger would have a bigger impact than a CF. Creativity is our Achilles heel than finishing and goal threat. I do think Martial has to prove he can he that CF who comes alive in the box but like you say he does bring other qualities like a Firmino does whereas we don't a true winger.
 

amolbhatia50k

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So Scholes who has played midfield field consistently at the highest level, winning 2 Champions leagues and 11 premier leagues is an idiot according to some clowns on an Internet forum, because his opinion doesn’t match theirs, okay..
To be fair a lot of footballers have idiotic views. I don't think this is one of them but as in all walks of life, people not in the industry are sometimes correct and those in it are sometimes wrong.
 

lsd

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Looks like you haven't watched much of Martial.

Martial is very good at bringing players into play and linking them, it is a very underrated skill of his.

When he is on his game then yes maybe. He is not a constant threat to oppossing centre backs .

The problem with any criticism of Martial especially is how so many people take it personally. You would nearly think we were winning things the way people cannot see we need changes
 

DWelbz19

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We haven't a single player who routinely creates open play chances and/or can gravitate play in the final third - i.e. Jadon Sancho or Jack Grealish. Scholes thinks we have 3 of them. Baffling.

Martial's had a poor start - but who hasn't? A striker -- even deceptive ones like Martial(!) are reliant on chance creation and possession of a football. We had 7 shots and 47% possession against Brighton (who had 18 and 53% in their favour); we had 5 shots and 38% possession against Spurs, who had 22 and 62% in their favour. Haaland for £150m or Harry Kane are fixing those issues, apparently.

EDIT: Yeah, the van Der Sar stuff isn't sensible either.
 

JPRouve

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So Scholes who has played midfield field consistently at the highest level, winning 2 Champions leagues and 11 premier leagues is an idiot according to some clowns on an Internet forum, because his opinion doesn’t match theirs, okay..
It's more that his opinion doesn't match with his own opinion from a few weeks ago or reality in the case of Ajax structure. And being a great player doesn't make you insightful, it makes you a great player when you are on the field.
 

limerickcitykid

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And yet you have the experience and credibility to make that conclusion?
The experience and credibility to read that van der sar isn’t a DoF nor did he study DoF at university? Yes I do, anyone with an ounce of common sense can come to that conclusion. Unfortunately, from Scholes punditry it’s clear he doesn’t.
 

limerickcitykid

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So Scholes who has played midfield field consistently at the highest level, winning 2 Champions leagues and 11 premier leagues is an idiot according to some clowns on an Internet forum, because his opinion doesn’t match theirs, okay..
Pelé is arguably the greatest player ever, I guess everything he has said is correct then?
 

amolbhatia50k

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The experience and credibility to read that van der sar isn’t a DoF nor did he study DoF at university? Yes I do, anyone with an ounce of common sense can come to that conclusion. Unfortunately, from Scholes punditry it’s clear he doesn’t.
This reminds me of when politicians spout nonsense and then tell others to "stick to their **insert profession here*'. Not saying Scholes is spouting nonsense but nobody needs to agree with Scholes because he is Scholes. Agree with him if he's making a good point.
 

King Andow

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One goal and one assist more than Rashford last season, one which Rashford had to play while coming back from a broken back, and he was 10 times better? What a crock of shite.
He played almost the same amount of minutes, had lots of penalties. Overall Martial was way better. It's been 7 months from the injury and he's still terrible, easily one of our worst players after restart, when Bruno, Greenwood and Martial carried our attack. At the moment he's a way bigger problem, but it's ok because he's a local academy lad like his mate Lingz.
 

Highfather_24

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I thought Overmars was DoF at Ajax, and Van Der Sar was Ajax's equivalent to Woody?
Yep. Literally everything he said is wrong.

Martial is a brilliant CF and he was saying that few weeks ago. None of Martial, Rashford, James or Greenwood are a RW. VDS is CEO, not DOF, thats Overmars.

Very ignorant from Scholesy.
 

Highfather_24

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Our players and their best positions :

Martial : CF, LW
Rashford: LW, CF
Greenwood : CF, RW
James : LW, RW
Cavani : CF, LW

So we have 3 natural CFs, 2 natural LWs. Obviously we need a natural RW.

But no, Scholes and co, think we need a CF. So weird, its almost like there is a agenda against Martial. Martial has performed so much better than Firmino or Jesus, but no one is calling for City or Liverpool to buy Kane/Haaland.
 

Deery

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To be fair a lot of footballers have idiotic views. I don't think this is one of them but as in all walks of life, people not in the industry are sometimes correct and those in it are sometimes wrong.
Rooney, Keane and Sheringham have also said we need a number 9
 

Mr PG

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Many players divide opinion at United. Martial , Pogba, Rashford come to mind. Precisely because we don't have that many exceptional players to compare with. We're so far behind the elite and all of these 3 should be bench warmers in a proper united squad. Chelsea who finished level with us last season got properly spanked by Bayern in a one sided contest.

Not many of our players are comfortable and can do much with the ball or want the ball besides countering. In the long term, only Maguire, Greenwood, Fernandes in the current team will survive.

Take Pogba for instance, if he hasn't done much in 4 years it's time to move him on
 

amolbhatia50k

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Rooney, Keane and Sheringham have also said we need a number 9
And Rio has been begging for Sancho. Why rely on footballers views to form your own? They've done sod all when it comes to management anyway.
 

Deery

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It's more that his opinion doesn't match with his own opinion from a few weeks ago or reality in the case of Ajax structure. And being a great player doesn't make you insightful, it makes you a great player when you are on the field.
He said he was conned by Martial so that’s not exactly true and lots of great players become great managers or football men so that’s not exactly true either.
 

sammsky1

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So Scholes who has played midfield field consistently at the highest level, winning 2 Champions leagues and 11 premier leagues is an idiot according to some clowns on an Internet forum, because his opinion doesn’t match theirs, okay..
Internet is full of self appointed experts who can dismiss the opinions of genuine experts by typing out a simple post.

How do you think Trump, Boris, Bolsonaro or Modi became leaders of their country?
 

Chief123

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The more he talks the more clueless he shows himself to be.

Literally just a couple of months ago he was saying how Martial changed his view on him and how he’s proving to be a proper number 9. Now he’s back to a fraud again :lol:

And how the feck have we already got players like Sancho? Cause I’ve not seen a single one.:lol:
 

sammsky1

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The more he talks the more clueless he shows himself to be.

Literally just a couple of months ago he was saying how Martial changed his view on him and how he’s proving to be a proper number 9. Now he’s back to a fraud again :lol:

And how the feck have we already got players like Sancho? Cause I’ve not seen a single one.:lol:
Martial as an inside left inverted forward is quite similar?
 

Highfather_24

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Martial, Greenwood and Rashford are all forwards. They can run at defences and are good at finishing, but dont have any creativity. We need a creative forward.

Buying another CF doesnt fix that.

Also, its wild how Martial will be criticised and be asked to be replaced if he has 3 average performances, but Rashford has been shitty ever since he came back from injury and literally NO ONE talks about it. Why isnt there more talks about him being replaced?

Its blatant favouritism.
 

Deery

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And Rio has been begging for Sancho. Why rely on footballers views to form your own? They've done sod all when it comes to management anyway.
I don’t, I can see with my own eyes, but I wouldn’t be calling them idiots either when they have a lifetime of experience at the highest level and I’ve kicked a ball for my local team.
 

JPRouve

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He said he was conned by Martial so that’s not exactly true and lots of great players become great managers or football men so that’s not exactly true either.
That makes no sense, if Scholes can be conned then why would you consider his opinions as gospel? And I didn't tell you that great players can't become great managers, I told you that being a great player doesn't make you insightful or since you brought it up, a great manager, similarly being a subpar player doesn't mean that you can't be insightful or become a great manager.

What a player achieved on the field is irrelevant when it comes to being insightful out of it or becoming a great manager or not.
 

JPRouve

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Look ! Nicky Butt was the standout midfielder at the 2002 World Cup ,ok!
Butt is a good example, he wasn't the most talented midfielder at United but whenever I have seen or read interviews with him, he makes sense, he seems smart.
 

poleglass red

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Would I take Haaland or Kane over Martial as our number 9, hell yeah. We couldn't finalise a deal for Sancho though, a player whose club give us a figure and he was ours, we couldn't close that deal. Can you imagine dealing with Spurs for a player not asking to leave, for a club not looking to sell, not a chance we would get that deal done. I've seen a few pundits last season mention Kane, come on, with our board. Maybe that's what needs fixing first and foremost before we have any grandiose ideas about cherry picking rivals top players.
 

Deery

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That makes no sense, if Scholes can be conned then why would you consider his opinions as gospel? And I didn't tell you that great players can't become great managers, I told you that being a great player doesn't make you insightful or since you brought it up, a great manager, similarly being a subpar player doesn't mean that you can't be insightful or become a great manager.

What a player achieved on the field is irrelevant when it comes to being insightful out of it or becoming a great manager or not.
So you’re just going to dismiss his lifetime of football experience, just because his view doesn’t suit yours.
He was the captain of the team you’re referring to you know.
 

Toad

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He’s right though, Sancho wasn’t a priority but then in my opinion sorting out the back line was and we just didn’t focus on that at all.

A DOF is needed. We can’t just keep rotating through managers, at one point we need to understand it’s above the manager that is the issue. Let Woodward’s focus on getting toothpaste deals completed and Van Der Sar focus on what Woodward know little about.

I agree with Martial as well but at the moment he is the best we have.

Fix the club from the top down rather than the bottom up. There is no other way.
 

R77

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I love Martial, but in relation to the point about him;

How many times do we see the opposition 18yrd box full of oppo players with all our lads passing the ball around outside it? Even when someone does good work down the flanks and gets anywhere near level with the goal area, there's never an option for whipping a ball in, or anyone causing choas in there, so it constantly gets passed back beyond the penalty arc. It's one of the ways we often look impotent and dull in attack. Passing the ball into the net is very rarely going to work in that situation. It was even happening loads against Luton until Greenwood came on and had the balls to get amongst the players in the box. The rest of them seem scared of the slightest physicality and rarely even try.

An in form Martial is vital to the team, and obviously one of our best players, but I'd suggest folks like Scholes bleating about him not being a 'proper' #9 are seeing the situations like the above and thinking there really should be someone getting amongst it. It's not advocating stone age football, but an important option to have. Hopefully Cavani can be that option.