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2020-21 Performances


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5.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
36
Goals
7
Assists
5
Yellow cards
1
Red cards
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Andersons Dietician

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Surprised there is even debate about this. It’s clear there is contact at 2 points on Martial. I’m sure Martial is expecting a bigger contact and has probably already decided in his mind just to let his body go limp and take the impact and fall for a penalty.
The contacts minimal but it’s still a foul and the defender has prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity but by my understanding of the rules has always been a red card if you’re last man. All this new palava is just complicating the old rule which would have been the same.

If anything refs and Var need to start using common sense. By letter of the law, Luiz and the dude go off because they deny a clear goal scoring oppertunity. If that rule wasn’t present then for me those two incidents are a yellow card and a penalty.
 

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Surprised there is even debate about this. It’s clear there is contact at 2 points on Martial. I’m sure Martial is expecting a bigger contact and has probably already decided in his mind just to let his body go limp and take the impact and fall for a penalty.
The contacts minimal but it’s still a foul and the defender has prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity but by my understanding of the rules has always been a red card if you’re last man. All this new palava is just complicating the old rule which would have been the same.

If anything refs and Var need to start using common sense. By letter of the law, Luiz and the dude go off because they deny a clear goal scoring oppertunity. If that rule wasn’t present then for me those two incidents are a yellow card and a penalty.
It's a complete dive for me... he's already going down before Bednerak touches him, and yes he touches him but its such minimal contact and with Martial already going down I don't think it warrants a penalty at all.

However I definitely don't blame Martial for diving - you basically have to these days because of how the game is reffed... not his fault that the system encourages it.
 

eire-red

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I've been really critical of him, but delighted to see him bag a couple tonight, and good finishes as well, and the types of goal we don't see enough of from him.

It makes you frustrated at the same time because that first goal was of the highest quality, and knowing that he has that in his locker, and is good enough to make it look effortless, just highlights the talent beneath.

I hope he can kick on from tonight, if he can get 10-15 goals in the run in this season then it's not over yet!
 

amolbhatia50k

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A cowardly dive when he was clean through on goal tells me everything I already knew about his mentality.
When someone like Maradona cheats, people praise him for being a "winner".

There was contact, anyway.
 

Lukinho

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How can anybody talk about the pen. Who cares we didnt get one against Fulham and we should have one in the first half also. We have won 9:0 so just enjoy it.
 

kafta

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A better touch would've seen him through on goal without the need for a pen, but in general he was excellent yesterday.

Its great to see him scoring strikers goals from inside the box. Hopefully he can learn some things training with Cavani.

We need him, marcus and mason in the best of form for the remainder of the season.
 

Wilt

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It's a complete dive for me... he's already going down before Bednerak touches him, and yes he touches him but its such minimal contact and with Martial already going down I don't think it warrants a penalty at all.

However I definitely don't blame Martial for diving - you basically have to these days because of how the game is reffed... not his fault that the system encourages it.
Why does he have to dive when we’re 6-0 up against 10 men?

Martial‘s logic is dive first, shoot second. Would sell him at a heartbeat, to sign Haaland, who has the complete opposite mindset to Martial.
 

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Why does he have to dive when we’re 6-0 up against 10 men?

Martial‘s logic seems dive first, shoot second. Would sell him at a heartbeat, to sign Haaland, who has the complete opposite mindset to Martial.
I'm talking about football in general encouraging you to dive - ultimately, it's how you get decisions (and how you don't get decisions if you don't!)
 

Alemar

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Do you agree the red card was ridiculous?
Yes I do agree, however that is what the letter of the law stipulates.

It was a professional foul in order to deprive an attacker of a goal scoring opportunity - hence a red. if Bednarek tried to play the ball and fouled, it would have been penalty and a yellow instead (or a free kick and a red if outside the box)
 

Wilt

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I'm talking about football in general encouraging you to dive - ultimately, it's how you get decisions (and how you don't get decisions if you don't!)
Maybe that’s today’s football. Diving, cheating, call it what you like it’s the supporters who lose out, personally I want to see proper goals.
 

tomaldinho1

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Surprised there is even debate about this. It’s clear there is contact at 2 points on Martial. I’m sure Martial is expecting a bigger contact and has probably already decided in his mind just to let his body go limp and take the impact and fall for a penalty.
The contacts minimal but it’s still a foul and the defender has prevented a clear goal scoring opportunity but by my understanding of the rules has always been a red card if you’re last man. All this new palava is just complicating the old rule which would have been the same.

If anything refs and Var need to start using common sense. By letter of the law, Luiz and the dude go off because they deny a clear goal scoring oppertunity. If that rule wasn’t present then for me those two incidents are a yellow card and a penalty.
I was surprised at the time as thought he was going to the monitor to yellow Martial - I don't really blame Martial because it's just a natural reaction and probably what all forwards are trained to do from a young age (both to avoid injury and to win the penalty) - but I don't see how anyone can watch the replays and say there was contact that would have altered his path. You can say Martial anticipates the tackle but the tackle doesn't come which makes his dive/anticipation of the tackle look worse in fairness.

What happens if the same scenario happens and Bednarek is just in the way - he's not playing the ball but he does make contact - is that a red? What happens if Bednarek pretends to go for the ball and just trips him, who can say if he's gone for the ball or not?
 

Raven

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Maybe that’s today’s football. Diving, cheating, call it what you like it’s the supporters who lose out, personally I want to see proper goals.
He scored 2 proper goals and he went down easily for the pen. Ole's called for our players not to be nice and to be more ruthless. This is part of that.
 

Andersons Dietician

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It's a complete dive for me... he's already going down before Bednerak touches him, and yes he touches him but its such minimal contact and with Martial already going down I don't think it warrants a penalty at all.

However I definitely don't blame Martial for diving - you basically have to these days because of how the game is reffed... not his fault that the system encourages it.
I personally don’t know what gives people the idea he is going down before the contact. To me it’s clear as day that there is contact then he starts going down. The question is if that wasn’t in the penalty box would Martial have just ridden that contact and been able to stay on his feet if he tried. To me from the speed and where it was at I think he probably could of stayed up.

However it’s not a dive. A dive is something where there is no contact or deliberately moving your leg in to a position where you know you will get contact. To me none of those things happen so it’s not a dive.
 

Wilt

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He scored 2 proper goals and he went down easily for the pen. Ole's called for our players not to be nice and to be more ruthless. This is part of that.
When 6 nil up against 10 men?
 

The Corinthian

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I'm not really fussed if it was a dive or not a dive. Sometimes your luck is in, and sometimes it really isn't (SHU the other week for example), and yesterday for the dive, it was in.

What is really pleasing to see is that Martial scored two top goals. Neither were easy chances, and considering he's been missing some sitters this season, I think it'll do him a world of good and get his confidence back up.

Ole has made the right call in dropping him, and I think he should be on the bench for Everton, but a confident, angry Martial is a very useful weapon to have.
 

Bebestation

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Second part of the video shows clear touching of his lower leg/ankle by the opposition.
 

Steven-UK

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I am not taking much from Martial's game yesterday when we obviously had a large advantage when he came on; he has been woeful all season. I'd still start with Cavani over him until the end of the season, and still sell him in the summer for a proper, clinical striker.
 

Gopher Brown

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When someone like Maradona cheats, people praise him for being a "winner".

There was contact, anyway.
I don’t. Whataboutism doesn’t justify anything. It was a dive. I don’t care if other players also cheat, you can’t justify it that way.
 

Alfie092

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He always seems to be in and out of form since he has been at the club. I just hope he can start showing real consistency on a regular basis from this point on! He is in his mid 20s and for someone who has been at the club for 6 years he needs to start producing the cameo he did yesterday on a much more regular basis and become more ruthless in front of goal! I love his all-round play (aside from his recent run of games where he has been poor) and if he can become a ruthless finisher I don't see why we cannot challenge for major honours in the coming years with the squad we are building.

Right now I do think Cavani needs to be starting ahead of him and bring Tony on like we did in 2nd half of games. That way Cavani is not burning himself out and Martial is still getting regular gametime.
 

amolbhatia50k

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I don’t. Whataboutism doesn’t justify anything. It was a dive. I don’t care if other players also cheat.
That's not the issue. You said it tells you everything you need to know about him/his mentality. Did the dive against Campbell ruin Rooney for you?
 

Gopher Brown

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That's not the issue. You said it tells you everything you need to know about him/his mentality. Did the dive against Campbell ruin Rooney for you?
No. I was unhappy with him at the time, but Rooney wasn’t clean through on goal with only a shot to take when he did it. Martial’s first thought wasn’t ‘I’ll bury this’ - it was ‘I wonder if I can trick them into giving us a pen’
 

amolbhatia50k

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No. I was unhappy with him at the time, but Rooney wasn’t clean through on goal with only a shot to take when he did it. Martial’s first thought wasn’t ‘I’ll bury this’ - it was ‘I wonder if I can trick them into giving us a pen’
Useless. Don't think any of us should be giving this pointless view any relevance.
 

SirMarcusRashford

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Seems Martial is a sub to bring on and make an impression when you are already 5-0 up against 10 men and against a tired defence but not a player you want by your side when your in the trenches or a player to score you that decisive goal to get you that 1-0, 2-1 win.
 

Mr.Kaya

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I am not taking much from Martial's game yesterday when we obviously had a large advantage when he came on; he has been woeful all season. I'd still start with Cavani over him until the end of the season, and still sell him in the summer for a proper, clinical striker.
100% agree that we need to keep starting Cavani over Martial, but dont agree that we should sell him, not even with another striker in. We need several options in front and a Martial in proper shape is a pretty good player. Just got to show more of it often, right now I feel Cavani brings way more to the table.
 

Grande

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Second part of the video shows clear touching of his lower leg/ankle by the opposition.
Actually, the first part of the same video shows that it can’t be so, and that the second part gives a false impression. I agree that when you see the second part, it looks certain that Bednareks left foot hits Martial on the back of his right ancle. But thenyou see the first part again, and it’s evident that Bednareks left foot in fact lands ten centimeter in front of Martials right foot, so can’t have touched it on the backside. Unless you want to invoke Oliver Stone’s JFK ;). I think it’s the screen resolution that cocreates the illusion.
 

Grande

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A cowardly dive when he was clean through on goal tells me everything I already knew about his mentality.
Have we got a brave man here on the forum? A fearless know-it-all? Or does this post not tell me all I need to know about the poster? Probably not.

What I saw was someone with high confidence in his dribbling and low confidence in his finishing, reacting instinctively like probably most strikers bar Mark Hughes or Duncan Ferguson would have done, and getting a maximum end result out of it. I don’t think it was a good personality test to be honest. Even if I prefer Mark Hughes (but not Duncan Ferguson).
 

Cassidy

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absolutely. Ok thanks



"touched"

Ok so the ref awarded it so it was indeed a pen but for me there was no foul, it can be debated until the cows come home, people can have different opinions.

Do you agree the red card was ridiculous?
It wasnt deliberate but it was a foul. Clipped his thigh first then he his ankle second. Thats 2 contacts, he attempts to get out the way and so shouldnt have been a red. But its a clear penalty
 

Cassidy

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Actually, the first part of the same video shows that it can’t be so, and that the second part gives a false impression. I agree that when you see the second part, it looks certain that Bednareks left foot hits Martial on the back of his right ancle. But thenyou see the first part again, and it’s evident that Bednareks left foot in fact lands ten centimeter in front of Martials right foot, so can’t have touched it on the backside. Unless you want to invoke Oliver Stone’s JFK ;). I think it’s the screen resolution that cocreates the illusion.
Actually the false impression is the first. There was clear contact (twice) in the replays shown live
 

UncleBob

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I thought the ball coming to him caught him by a bit of a surprise and that the first touch was a bit too heavy and then he dragged his feet expecting the contact, which at best was barely there.
 

Jeppers7

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Second part of the video shows clear touching of his lower leg/ankle by the opposition.
I don’t get how people aren’t seeing this....but then people see what they want to see. He isn’t going down before the contact either.
 

Jeppers7

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Great game for Tony last night, would be interested to have seen the media reaction had Cavani scored two goals and won a penalty last night? Especially the quality of both goals. Hopefully Martial has been given a bit of a kick and has a great second half of the season.
 

Grande

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Actually the false impression is the first. There was clear contact (twice) in the replays shown live
From the clips I’ve seen (multiple times), the only possible contact with Martial’s lower right thigh can be no more of a mild brush of Bednarek’s left knee on the side at worst,which would not explain the leg staying behind all of a sudden. As for a touch on the ancle, I struggle to find a single moment where that is possible.
 

roonster09

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I'm talking about football in general encouraging you to dive - ultimately, it's how you get decisions (and how you don't get decisions if you don't!)
Yeah, perfect example was Spurs vs City game couple of years ago when Sterling was clearly fouled but he didn't go down, so didn't get penalty. Then game ended 2-2.

Players should go down to get the decisions.
 
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