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We are not talking about quality, but style of play.

There are various types of forwards : poachers(Hernandez, Inzaghi), strikers who play on the shoulder and are fast(Owen, Vardy), target men(Giroud), false 9s(Messi, Griezmann), second striker(Rooney, Del Piero) etc. Martial is probably best described as a second striker. Like Henry you said(but obviously there is difference in quality).

I dont mind people having a preference for a different style of player, but I disagree that its "necessary" or required. It depends on the tactical system and style of play, what kind of forward you need. If you're playing a possession style of football, having a classic target man doesnt work. If put a lot of crosses in , having a false 9 probably wont work etc.

Martial certainly has room for improvement. He is not a complete centre forward. But I find all this nitpicking weird, because Rashford isnt a perfect/true left winger either because his not creative enough. Nor is Greenwood a true RW. I can say Lindelof isnt a true CB because he sucks at headers. Or that De Gea isnt a true GK because he doesnt come off his line.

What we have to realise is there is no one way of playing a position. Michael Owen and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have both been amazing CFs in their prime, and were very different footballers. You can question Martial's goal scoring ability, or his weaknesses, but to criticise him for his style of play is not fair imo. As in stands, along with Bruno and Greenwood, he is our top 3 player.

I think more people need to question the effectiveness of players like Rashford in the media, because despite being very very poor post restart, no one talks about him, because he is from the academy and a poster boy of England now. The truth is Martial is performing much better than Rashford in the last 3 months, but everybody keeps on talking about replacing Martial and not Rashford. Its bias.
I don’t think there is any need to compare to Rashford. I don’t like this trend of comparing players to make a point.

Rashford is coming off the back of a big injury, and he is clearly not 100% fit. I don’t think he’s far off, but not fully fit.

I think it’s fair to question his style of play, when you put it in context of the team. Some players work in certain systems, and others... others.

I’ve not used the term “true”, but traditional no 9, which I think is very clear - and martial is obviously not a traditional no 9.

one of the big challenges I think, is that we have no one who gets in the box, and makes their presence felt. If we had a midfielder like Robson, or Lampard, that wouldn’t be such an issue, but it’s a weakness of the entire team, but something that could be solved with a “traditional” striker.

again, I think Martial is a good striker, but he’s no where near a striker who is going to take a team to a title. So I have no issue in him not being a “true” striker (whatever that is), just that he’s not quite good enough to take us to the next level, but I also recognise he’s one of our better players.

would love to be proved wrong. Whilst he’s here, I will fully support him, and want him to start banging them in again.
 

Bebestation

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“You’re only as strong as your strikers”
Well it wasnt true with Firmino. CL and Premiership winning team.

Their strikers play out wide just like ours.

The difference is that our strikers try play Martial in when it should be the other way around.

I'm always happy for a more traditional striker, but we will need more traditional wingers and fullbacks to add.

Even if we do get Haaland or Lewandowski - I'm happy with Martial being here because he allows us to play in a different way to the traditional 4231 one setups with a big chunky striker upfront.

Ideally we can have a manager one day that can get the best out of both.
 

Highfather_24

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again, I think Martial is a good striker, but he’s no where near a striker who is going to take a team to a title. So I have no issue in him not being a “true” striker (whatever that is), just that he’s not quite good enough to take us to the next level, but I also recognise he’s one of our better players.

would love to be proved wrong. Whilst he’s here, I will fully support him, and want him to start banging them in again.
Okay I can kinda agree with you there. I think we have maybe 3-4 players in our whole squad who can take us to a title but I digress. I also think he can be a better player, and I'm glad you dont have a issue with his style of play. I think many do, and that's what I dont understand. I think even if he got 30 goals last season instead of 23(he could have got 30 if he took penalties), people would still want him gone, because he isnt a "true number 9" which is absurd.

The reason I compared is because I think its different yardsticks for different players. Our whole team blows hot and cold. Rashford has been inconsistent even before his injury. So has Martial. So has every other player in our squad. But the pundits only seem to target a select few for their inconsistency. Its no secret the likes of Neville and co are very soft on English players.
 

Deery

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Well it wasnt true with Firmino. CL and Premiership winning team.

Their strikers play out wide just like ours.

The difference is that our strikers try play Martial in when it should be the other way around.

I'm always happy for a more traditional striker, but we will need more traditional wingers and fullbacks to add.

Even if we do get Haaland or Lewandowski - I'm happy with Martial being here because he allows us to play in a different way to the traditional 4231 one setups with a big chunky striker upfront.

Ideally we can have a manager one day that can get the best out of both.
Yeah I’d keep him he could easily take Rashford’s position the way he’s playing at the moment.
I think with Martial he suits playing of other players and can come up with moments of brilliance, it’s having to do it all himself upfront that effects him sometimes.

He’s still that good that he can play the centre forward position even if he wants to, it’s just I think people would want a better version upfront to win leagues etc
 

Highfather_24

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Yeah I’d keep him he could easily take Rashford’s position the way he’s playing at the moment.
I think with Martial he suits playing of other players and can come up with moments of brilliance, it’s having to do it all himself upfront that effects him sometimes.

He’s still that good that he can play the centre forward position even if he wants to, it’s just I think people would want a better version upfront to win leagues etc
Fair point. I understand wanting a better CF, and moving Martial to a left forward position and taking some responsibility off him.

A interesting fact : Only Mane, Ings and Sterling have a better goal/90min(non penalties) ratio than Martial in the PL last season.

But I understand wanting to get a CF who will guarantee you 25goals+ in the PL. I dont know if there are many around who want to come to Utd and can guarantee that playing with our current team though.
 
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Okay I can kinda agree with you there. I think we have maybe 3-4 players in our whole squad who can take us to a title but I digress. I also think he can be a better player, and I'm glad you dont have a issue with his style of play. I think many do, and that's what I dont understand. I think even if he got 30 goals last season instead of 23(he could have got 30 if he took penalties), people would still want him gone, because he isnt a "true number 9" which is absurd.

The reason I compared is because I think its different yardsticks for different players. Our whole team blows hot and cold. Rashford has been inconsistent even before his injury. So has Martial. So has every other player in our squad. But the pundits only seem to target a select few for their inconsistency. Its no secret the likes of Neville and co are very soft on English players.
it’s nice to have a debate on the Caf, where there are element which we disagree on, in a sensible and well reasoned manner.

im not convinced that Martial, Rashford and Greenwood will work long term as an attacking threesome. We miss that presence in the box, and it needs to come from at least one of them. Perhaps Cavani, at least in the short term will provide that - and not necessarily at the expense of Martial.

what I’m trying to say is that when everything clicks, it’s a great forward line, but do we have someone who can really grind out a goal? So perhaps they are all similar in that respect - and we need someone to do the dirty work.
 

Bubz27

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The no 9 for Manchester United needs to be an elite level striker, scoring 25+ goals per season, every season.
So who was the last one of those we had then? Not RVP, not Zlatan, not Rooney, not Ronaldo, not Tevez. Ruud? How have we managed to get by for 15 years without a proper no 9?
 

Deery

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Fair point. I understand wanting a better CF, and moving Martial to a left forward position and taking some responsibility off him.

A interesting fact : Only Mane, Ings and Sterling have a better goal/90min(non penalties) ratio than Martial in the PL last season.

But I understand wanting to get a CF who will guarantee you 25goals+ in the PL. I dont know if there are many around who want to come to Utd and can guarantee that playing with our current team though.
No there’s not many about and those who are am not sure would come anyway.

That is an interesting stat didn’t think it was that good, there’s always a goal in him so has to start in my eyes.

Haaland would be the dream and could get you 25 goals, lead the line, bring people into play and have a physical presence up front. But that’s only a dream.
 

RUCK4444

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So who was the last one of those we had then? Not RVP, not Zlatan, not Rooney, not Ronaldo, not Tevez. Ruud? How have we managed to get by for 15 years without a proper no 9?
What I meant was the number 9 here needs consistency, to be pushing those numbers every season.

You have to be getting 20-25. Martial doesn’t strike me as a player who will punch those numbers for consistency.

Silky player, good finisher. I like him, just think a club of our size has to have one of the best no 9s in the world starting for us, not somebody who’s hit 20 goals once in his career.

People get defensive over Martial, I hope he proves me wrong, just don’t feel we will get the consistency we need from him, I’d say the same for Rashford.
 

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Keane did just the other week, he said if Ole doesn’t do well then he’s under serious pressure.

I think if things keep going the way they are people will start following that line of thought.

As for Haaland we could play a longer ball up to him so defence could sit deeper for Maguire, Martial could play on the left resting Rashford and Pogba could use his vision and long passing to pick out Haaland’s runs thus taking the pressure of his short passing game.
Are you talking about his comments on MNF after the Brighton win on 28 Sep? I can't remember exactly. But fair play to Keane, he's been the only one it seems to actually try to be objective on Ole, and not just blame the players 100% for everything. Scholes had a lot to say about LVG & Mourinho for instance but I can't remember him ever saying a word about Ole in his time here.

I can definitely get behind someone like Håland up-front with Martial, but most seem to have an obsession for it to be at the expense of Martial, which I think is odd. Of course Håland would make a difference to us, but it's not like we would suddenly be challenging for titles like people seem to think, our issues run much deeper. One of the biggest criticisms of Martial is that 'he blows hot & cold', but doesn't our whole team? It's just always certain players that are singled out by pundits it seems, whilst they ignore the broader picture.
 

Bebestation

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Are you talking about his comments on MNF after the Brighton win on 28 Sep? I can't remember exactly. But fair play to Keane, he's been the only one it seems to actually try to be objective on Ole, and not just blame the players 100% for everything. Scholes had a lot to say about LVG & Mourinho for instance but I can't remember him ever saying a word about Ole in his time here.

I can definitely get behind someone like Håland up-front with Martial, but most seem to have an obsession for it to be at the expense of Martial, which I think is odd. Of course Håland would make a difference to us, but it's not like we would suddenly be challenging for titles like people seem to think, our issues run much deeper. One of the biggest criticisms of Martial is that 'he blows hot & cold', but doesn't our whole team? It's just always certain players that are singled out by pundits it seems, whilst they ignore the broader picture.
Exactly, people blame it on the striker even when people would argue that Martial isnt meant to play like a traditional number 9 anyway.

There was a time when our front 3 played so narrow and deadly together & there was all sorts saying that we are scoring more than Liverpool's front 3 etc.

Now is the reason that died because of Martial? I dont think so and for me it's a collective fault because the positioning, the formation, the tactics, the energy, the attack, midfield and defence all seems sub par at the moment.

I hardly seen a single chance created that Martial went and missed or was poor positioned in - some will just blame Martial for not being predatory enough whilst I sit there looking at Martial's faults just as much as the fact that not a single player has been fantastic in their chance creations either.
 

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Whatever Scholes, Neville and Giggs say i know that i will disagree with them.
The hypocrisy from Neville regarding sacking managers too early makes me chuckle every time. Especially when you see how many managers they stack at Salford City.
 

Deery

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Are you talking about his comments on MNF after the Brighton win on 28 Sep? I can't remember exactly. But fair play to Keane, he's been the only one it seems to actually try to be objective on Ole, and not just blame the players 100% for everything. Scholes had a lot to say about LVG & Mourinho for instance but I can't remember him ever saying a word about Ole in his time here.

I can definitely get behind someone like Håland up-front with Martial, but most seem to have an obsession for it to be at the expense of Martial, which I think is odd. Of course Håland would make a difference to us, but it's not like we would suddenly be challenging for titles like people seem to think, our issues run much deeper. One of the biggest criticisms of Martial is that 'he blows hot & cold', but doesn't our whole team? It's just always certain players that are singled out by pundits it seems, whilst they ignore the broader picture.
Yeah it was after the Brighton win on MNF. I think it’s because everyone see’s all these strikers around Europe putting up amazing figures and performances and immediately compare them to Martial (which is unfair).

Then you get players like Rashford that doesn’t have as many stand out players to get compared to so he can get something of a pass because people see potential there for left wing which isn’t as much under the magnifying glass as striker.

But, yeah the team isn’t performing well at all either I don’t know if that is Ole maybe it is. Regardless or not he will be the one to go if results don’t pick up.

Scholes, Neville and co don’t want to say anything because they’re pals plus a lot of the fan base want Ole to succeed so it’s not really smart professionally for them just yet but if things keep going it won’t be long before someone gets the ball rolling.
 

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What I meant was the number 9 here needs consistency, to be pushing those numbers every season.

You have to be getting 20-25. Martial doesn’t strike me as a player who will punch those numbers for consistency.

Silky player, good finisher. I like him, just think a club of our size has to have one of the best no 9s in the world starting for us, not somebody who’s hit 20 goals once in his career.

People get defensive over Martial, I hope he proves me wrong, just don’t feel we will get the consistency we need from him, I’d say the same for Rashford.
I agree in isolation. We definitely should only expect the very best here.

But when you say you don't want somebody who's only hit 20 goals once in his career, have you seen how many minutes he has actually played for us in his time here? He never had the chance to before last season. Last season was his first season getting proper minutes as the focal point since LVG.

He went from playing 4k mins as the focal point as a 18/19 year old under LVG in 15/16, to averaging ~1.6k mins less in each subsequent 3 seasons since under Mourinho, shunted out on the wing. 3 years is huge. That's going to significantly affect any young player's development.
 

Dante

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When you look at Martial's goal output and call him a centreforward, it's the same as looking at Aaron Wan-Bissaka's tackling stats and calling him a centreback.

Martial fundamentally plays the CF position in the way you'd expect an outsideforward to play it. His natural instincts mean that opposition defenders don't need to worry about defending the 6 yard box. They only need to worry about defending 18 yards from the goal. But Rashford and Greenwood already provide a similar option, so we're tripling up on the same threat rather than varying it.

United aren't making the most of the scruffy chances that Chicharito, Calvert-Lewin or Bamford would be gobbling up. Meanwhile, Martial is scoring from the same kind of areas that Rashford and Greenwood are already occupying (starting at the edge of the box and running at defenders).

Wanting to buy Kane is about wanting to change the options in the front 3. He gives us a variety in the box that Sancho wouldn't. In the same way that Greenwood would still get plenty of games with Sancho in the squad, Martial would also get plenty of games with Kane in the squad.
 

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Obviously he’s entitled to his opinion, Pogba the other day made the RM comment and it was an uproar which because of the 6-1 didn’t go down well because of the timing. How’s this any different apart from he isn’t part of the club, I know that’s the answer but if you love the club and right now there is negative press about us how’s these Martial comments gonna help the player or the club?
 

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Exactly, people blame it on the striker even when people would argue that Martial isnt meant to play like a traditional number 9 anyway.

There was a time when our front 3 played so narrow and deadly together & there was all sorts saying that we are scoring more than Liverpool's front 3 etc.

Now is the reason that died because of Martial? I dont think so and for me it's a collective fault because the positioning, the formation, the tactics, the energy, the attack, midfield and defence all seems sub par at the moment.

I hardly seen a single chance created that Martial went and missed or was poor positioned in - some will just blame Martial for not being predatory enough whilst I sit there looking at Martial's faults just as much as the fact that not a single player has been fantastic in their chance creations either.
I agree it's everything that's off right now. I struggle to remember us ever playing worse than we are right now. No one is confident on the pitch at all this season. We're like a pub team it's been that bad. Now City and Liverpool getting high losses too is definitely strange, so is it burnout from the longer last season & not having a proper rest? Is it other teams figuring our tactics out, and we're struggling to adjust? We'll have a better idea seeing how we perform vs Newcastle I guess.
 

Majima

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Yeah it was after the Brighton win on MNF. I think it’s because everyone see’s all these strikers around Europe putting up amazing figures and performances and immediately compare them to Martial (which is unfair).

Then you get players like Rashford that doesn’t have as many stand out players to get compared to so he can get something of a pass because people see potential there for left wing which isn’t as much under the magnifying glass as striker.

But, yeah the team isn’t performing well at all either I don’t know if that is Ole maybe it is. Regardless or not he will be the one to go if results don’t pick up.

Scholes, Neville and co don’t want to say anything because they’re pals plus a lot of the fan base want Ole to succeed so it’s not really smart professionally for them just yet but if things keep going it won’t be long before someone gets the ball rolling.
Thanks. The thing is, i've never seen anyone hold the same opinion when we was flying last season. Scholes was saying how amazing it is that he has turned himself into a no.9 back then, so if we was winning matches, no-one would care one bit about him 'not being a no.9'. Same way no one at Liverpool cares about Firmino not being one.

That's true there's not many young top quality wingers not named Sancho out in the mainstream, but Rashford has struggled after his serious injury immensely for many months now, to the point where I do worry whether he will heal properly, but i don't see the same questions being asked of him by anyone.

Who knows, is it burnout from last season? Other teams figuring us out? Team just badly out of form? We'll know more after Newcastle I expect.
 

Jibbs

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God save us from.the opinions and influence of our ex players, bit here I kinda agree with Scholes about VDS and Martial but a bit differently. VDS will be a very good CEO for United bit Woodward won't be sacked by Glazers, Martial is a very good wide forward and plays better with a strong CF. I want to see him develop.a partnership with Cavani.
 

King Andow

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6 penalties more than Martial. Rashford plays out wide. There’s an argument to be had over who played better. There isn’t an argument to say Martial was ten times better. Unless you want to talk shite.
You're right. He was just two to five times better and still is.
 

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The comment about needing a pure striker because we don't have one is just plain odd, I really hope it's taken out of context. Our best ever period as a club was when we did not have a pure striker. The Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney trio enabled us to have our most successful run domestically and in Europe. Before and after it, we had RvN and Berbatov with significantly inferior returns. Yes, it's true that Ronaldo was a unique difference maker but even back then, he only scored more than 30 goals in one season and we still managed to win titles and reach CL semis and finals. The current Liverpool side is another similar example and I'd also add Barcelona at their peak when Villa did not play as a striker.

Maybe his point is that you need a pure striker if your wingers and false nines and what have you don't contribute enough goals. But then he should be saying that instead of implying that one can't be successful without a traditional 9. Teams have succeeded with no strikers, with strikers, with creative midfielders, no creative midfielders, and the list goes on. The only constant is that you need to find goals from somewhere and stop opponents scoring goals. The rest is flexible and constantly changing.
 

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I don’t think anyone would disagree with you there the more talent the better, but you’re talking about £100m’s of pounds on players. Either one or the other I think.
I know...hence the point I make about it not being as likely.

Although- you could ask is buying x2 18/19 yo wingers for half the price of Sancho, a good investment strategy? Time will tell...but we would need 1 in 4 of those types of gambles to come off for it to break even as such
 

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The comment about needing a pure striker because we don't have one is just plain odd, I really hope it's taken out of context. Our best ever period as a club was when we did not have a pure striker. The Ronaldo, Tevez, Rooney trio enabled us to have our most successful run domestically and in Europe. Before and after it, we had RvN and Berbatov with significantly inferior returns. Yes, it's true that Ronaldo was a unique difference maker but even back then, he only scored more than 30 goals in one season and we still managed to win titles and reach CL semis and finals. The current Liverpool side is another similar example and I'd also add Barcelona at their peak when Villa did not play as a striker.

Maybe his point is that you need a pure striker if your wingers and false nines and what have you don't contribute enough goals. But then he should be saying that instead of implying that one can't be successful without a traditional 9. Teams have succeeded with no strikers, with strikers, with creative midfielders, no creative midfielders, and the list goes on. The only constant is that you need to find goals from somewhere and stop opponents scoring goals. The rest is flexible and constantly changing.
Tevez was still a centreforward, even though he wasn't the main goalscorer.

It's not about stats, it's about the areas of the pitch Martial occupies and the workload he gives to opposition defenders.

Scholes knows all of that history, seeing as he saw it first hand as the main midfield driving force behind those teams.
 

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Tevez was still a centreforward, even though he wasn't the main goalscorer.

It's not about stats, it's about the areas of the pitch Martial occupies and the workload he gives to opposition defenders.

Scholes knows all of that history, seeing as he saw it first hand as the main midfield driving force behind those teams.
Then he should say that our forwards should occupy different areas and as a pundit, should tell us if he thinks it's a coaching issue or that he feels the players are tactically not good enough to execute instructions. What he did instead is imply that success hinges on having a very specific profile of player which has never been true and still isn't. Again, it could be something that is taken out of context or just just miscommunication. But the idea that one needs a Lewandowski or Kane to succeed is just plain wrong.
 

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Then he should say that our forwards should occupy different areas and as a pundit, should tell us if he thinks it's a coaching issue or that he feels the players are tactically not good enough to execute instructions. What he did instead is imply that success hinges on having a very specific profile of player which has never been true and still isn't. Again, it could be something that is taken out of context or just just miscommunication. But the idea that one needs a Lewandowski or Kane to succeed is just plain wrong.
He never said that, so you're plain wrong.
 

Mick1

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Atleast read what's written before going off tangent according to the Quotes attributed to Scholes he thinks Van Der Sar is Dof at Ajax which is incorrect he is CEO for Ajax and he claims he always wanted the role of DOF and he studied for that role at University now if you can enlighten me which University offers specialised course to become Director of Football I would be thankful ,because Van der Sar did his masters in Sports and Brand management.
That's a Msc more than most others.
 

CG1010

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We may not need a first team #9, as I am still hoping this season Martial would breakout to become the world class striker he was meant to be. But our attack is extremely one dimensional and we certainly need a plan B with a #9 who can consistently receive passes from deep and bring others into play & can also score goals from crosses. Martial still doesn't do that enough yet. This #9 can even play with Martial in a two striker system should the game require.
 

Highfather_24

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Thanks. The thing is, i've never seen anyone hold the same opinion when we was flying last season. Scholes was saying how amazing it is that he has turned himself into a no.9 back then, so if we was winning matches, no-one would care one bit about him 'not being a no.9'. Same way no one at Liverpool cares about Firmino not being one.

That's true there's not many young top quality wingers not named Sancho out in the mainstream, but Rashford has struggled after his serious injury immensely for many months now, to the point where I do worry whether he will heal properly, but i don't see the same questions being asked of him by anyone.
I can definitely get behind someone like Håland up-front with Martial, but most seem to have an obsession for it to be at the expense of Martial, which I think is odd. Of course Håland would make a difference to us, but it's not like we would suddenly be challenging for titles like people seem to think, our issues run much deeper. One of the biggest criticisms of Martial is that 'he blows hot & cold', but doesn't our whole team? It's just always certain players that are singled out by pundits it seems, whilst they ignore the broader picture.
This is what I dont understand either.


Then he should say that our forwards should occupy different areas and as a pundit, should tell us if he thinks it's a coaching issue or that he feels the players are tactically not good enough to execute instructions. What he did instead is imply that success hinges on having a very specific profile of player which has never been true and still isn't. Again, it could be something that is taken out of context or just just miscommunication. But the idea that one needs a Lewandowski or Kane to succeed is just plain wrong.
Yep.
 

Stretender

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Martial is not a traditional centre forward and everyone knows that.

I don't know why people think comments from Scholes are outrageous. Ole has gone out to get a number 9 in Cavani so that is a clear message that even Ole himself doesn't trust Martial.

We have all said it here that missing out on Haaland was a big set back. Ole was after him but he failed. It means he is not convinced that in Martial he has the striker he needs at the moment.

The only issue I have with these ex United players like Neville, Keane and Scholes is that they are still living in the past where City are in the division below and playing at Maine Road, and Chelsea are owned by Ken Bates.

They are in a sense deluded to think we are that big of a draw that we can just snap our fingers and all of a sudden Harry Kane signs for us. They need to move on from Fergie days, we are not the dominant force in English football any more. Levy would put a record transfer fee on that which is not even worth it.

They also fail to address the elephant in the room which is Ole Gunner Solskjaer. No one has questioned his decision making, team selection and tactics. In my opinion they are not being honest.

Its also daft for Scholes to criticise the signing of Cavani a pure striker, when one of his main gripe with United is that Martial is not good enough. No one has said Cavani is the future, but dismising a world class centre forward before he has kicked a ball is ridiculous. Does Scholes think we could have signed Harry Kane or Haaland in this window?

The more you hear from Scholes, Keane and Neville, the more you begin to understand why they all failed as managers.
 

devips

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I think Greenwood, given a little more time, can be that centre forward we, and Scholes, want. He has that striker's instinct that Martial or Rashford lack. Cavani can be his mentor this year.
 

Smores

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I wonder if that means we'll see Cavani up front more than we expect with Martial wide.

I agree with Scholes in that I'd much rather have Martial wide and a proper striker up front. He's only played there because Rashford failed up front and we had no other options. That said he's been way better there than most expected so it's less a criticism of him and more our limitations.
 

Pogue Mahone

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He was our top scorer and our most consistent player over the whole of last season. It's weird how pundits always seem to pick on him.
Pundits like Scholes have played with genuinely world class goal-scorers like Van Nistelrooy or Ronaldo and can see how big a gulf there is between what we’ve got at the club right now and what we had when we used to win titles.

Martial is a skilful player who blows hot and cold and isn’t a natural number 9. He’s clearly never going to be a Lewandowski or Aguero, is he? Or even a Harry Kane. And that’s the calibre of player Scholes wants to see leading the line at Manchester United. Which is fair enough.
 

Highfather_24

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Sure Martial isnt world class, but we have another 10 players in our first XI, and only one is a world class player(Bruno), and one has world class potential(Greenwood). So there are basically 8 other players who are not world class, but all we hear about from the likes of Scholes is about Martial, and not about Maguire or Shaw not being as good as Ferdinand or Evra.
 

Pogue Mahone

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Sure Martial isnt world class, but we have another 10 players in our first XI, and only one is a world class player(Bruno), and one has world class potential(Greenwood). So there are basically 8 other players who are not world class, but all we hear about from the likes of Scholes is about Martial, and not about Maguire or Shaw not being as good as Ferdinand or Evra.
When Scholes was in the team his job was to create and score goals. He’s obviously going to have more of an opinion about what goes on at the sharp end of the pitch.
 

Highfather_24

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When Scholes was in the team his job was to create and score goals. He’s obviously going to have more of an opinion about what goes on at the sharp end of the pitch.
I think that is a weak argument, but if I extend your logic Neville should be more critical about AWB or Shaw or Maguire. Dont hear that either.

Only Martial is expected to e world class from Scholes and co, the rest can continue to be mediocre without any criticism.

I dont mind Scholes calling out Martial because he isnt world class. But be consistent, and keep that same energy while criticizing the other mediocrity in our squad