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2022-23 Performances


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5.6 Season Average Rating
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29
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Massive Spanner

The Football Grinch
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Would fill a massive hole in the squad if we can get LVG Martial back - I guess it's possible he needs a possession-based manager to shine after playing under three 'get the ball forward as quickly as possible' merchants in a row.

Will be fully expecting the return of can't be arsed Martial as soon as he has an excuse for his head to drop, though.
LvG Martial? It's not that long since he scored 20+ goals for Ole, y'know!
 

ArjenIsM3

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Dare I say it, he's actually working hard off the ball today! Encouraging. Maybe this time he'll actually keep this up :nervous:
 

villain

Hates Beyoncé
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Where are the haters, the silence is deafening!

Martial my boy, I never lost faith :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:
 

spiriticon

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Hmmm...ok fair enough. One LAST chance from me this season.

Not that what I think matters, he's one of those that will never leave no matter how crap he is.
 

NewYorkRed

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Its really not surprising at all that he’s playing well. The talent has never been a question and again people forget, he was arguably the best striker in the league a couple of years ago under Ole. Lets see if ETH can keep him motivated all year.
 

DWelbz19

Correctly predicted Portugal to win Euro 2016
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Grab your stocks asap, man. Yesterdays price is not todays price!
 

Idxomer

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His best quality is his 1st touch and receiving the ball under pressure which is a huge contrast to how fragile Ronaldo looked last season as a target man. Having that kind of player in Ten Hag's system is pretty much essential because he gets the best out of the wide forwards.

The funny thing is to get the best out of this version of Ronaldo he also needs someone like Martial to play off him up top.
 

Greck

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This isn't a case for Martial as much as it is a case for deploying a link up striker willing to defer in the final third. Martial might still return to dust but the point will always stand, a more equal opportunity attack is far more rewarding. All those chances created or deferred, Ronaldo would burn them, score one and it would look like he carried the entire attack. Never read truer words than him being the solution to the problem he creates.
 

Bebestation

Im a doctor btw, my IQ destroys yours
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The one thing I want to see is him scoring more double goals and hat tricks in matches - he needs to add a bit of poachers ability to become a deadlier player.

His link up play has always been good enough and beautiful to watch.
 

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
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His best quality is his 1st touch and receiving the ball under pressure which is a huge contrast to how fragile Ronaldo looked last season as a target man. Having that kind of player in Ten Hag's system is pretty much essential because he gets the best out of the wide forwards.

The funny thing is to get the best out of this version of Ronaldo he also needs someone like Martial to play off him up top.
It is a strange one because Ronaldo first touch and ability to receive the ball under pressure are without a doubt superior but he is too focused on playing it for himself instead of simply make the ball move. It's something that Benzema used to do for France years ago, he was too focused on playing hero ball which made him perform worse than he could.

Martial has a chance to fulfill his potential if he focuses on the team and "forget" about goals and assists. Benzema and Firmino are decent models for him.
 

FrankDrebin

Don't call me Shirley
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I love Sancho's option there in passing to Martial in the box. Would've been predictable to have chosen Beek on the outside.
Also, no way Ronaldo would've laid it off to Beek in the box like Martial. Instantly would've went for goal.
 

The Corinthian

I will not take Mad Winger's name in vain
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He’s looked a different player in pre season. Making a big claim for our #9 for the season.
 

Skills

Snitch
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It is a strange one because Ronaldo first touch and ability to receive the ball under pressure are without a doubt superior but he is too focused on playing it for himself instead of simply make the ball move. It's something that Benzema used to do for France years ago, he was too focused on playing hero ball which made him perform worse than he could.

Martial has a chance to fulfill his potential if he focuses on the team and "forget" about goals and assists. Benzema and Firmino are decent models for him.
The thing is unless he's scoring goals, he'll always be criticised. See 20/21 where he lost his finishing touch
 

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
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The thing is unless he's scoring goals, he'll always be criticised. See 20/21 where he lost his finishing touch
It's probably true but only the manager matter here, Klopp and Zidane were happy with Benzema and Firmino even though people largely criticized both.
 

flameinthesun

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He is the best player we currently have for that position, if EtH plays players on merit then the spot is Martial's. Ronaldo can sit on the bench or jet of to portugal for some more "training"
 

Infestissumam

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clear winner of this tour so far. Have rarely seen him so engaged and motivated ... I absolutely love this version of him. Long may it continue.
 

Darlington Padgett

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A starting Martial with no competition is a different beast. When he's trusted and motivated nobody can stop him.
 

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
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I don't know if Martial is that different outside of his finishing coming back. On Rashford's goal Martial did something that he often does which is to not shoot from awkward angles and try to find a teammate or control the ball, if VDB doesn't square the ball to Rashford but instead shoots and miss, then Martial is criticized.

From what I have seen during this preseason none of our attackers are doing new things, Rashford is playing the way he did before his injury, Martial is playing the way he did in 19/20, Sancho is playing the way he did from the right for Dortmund as more of a playmaker and Bruno is playing the way he did during his first handful of games for United.

I wouldn't be surprised if ETH simply showed them tapes of their own very good games.
 

RedStarUnited

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It is a strange one because Ronaldo first touch and ability to receive the ball under pressure are without a doubt superior but he is too focused on playing it for himself instead of simply make the ball move. It's something that Benzema used to do for France years ago, he was too focused on playing hero ball which made him perform worse than he could.

Martial has a chance to fulfill his potential if he focuses on the team and "forget" about goals and assists. Benzema and Firmino are decent models for him.
Probably in the minority with this thinking here but Ronaldo wants to dive all the time. So whilst he has the ability, anytime he feels a touch he wants to drop. Ive always felt that was one of these little differences between him and Messi that no one talks about.

Back to Martial, I was done with him last season. He really looks back to his best but it helps that the team is playing to his style.
 

largelyworried

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Big bonus if he can come into a bit of form, given that he looks set to be with the club next season. Maybe ETH is the right kind of manager for him? I think the worry with Martial is that he's shown many times over his career that he can turn it on for a dozen games and look world class. His problem is maintaining it over a full season and beyond, especially when his form dips a little, he can find it hard to turn that around. But the talent is there, without a doubt. If ETH can connect with him, he could be a great asset for the season.
 

Shark

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Can Tony actually do this for even 50% of the season? That's the question.
 

Raees

Pythagoras in Boots
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Dare I say it but is it time to feast again..
 

Infestissumam

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question is also how he'll handle it if Ronaldo stays and he's relegated to a part-time role. Martial always seems to blossom when he is backed/trusted and falter when there's competition.
 

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
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Probably in the minority with this thinking here but Ronaldo wants to dive all the time. So whilst he has the ability, anytime he feels a touch he wants to drop. Ive always felt that was one of these little differences between him and Messi that no one talks about.

Back to Martial, I was done with him last season. He really looks back to his best but it helps that the team is playing to his style.
I don't know if it's all the time but you are not wrong, he is more likely to milk a free kick than Messi. But unless I'm mistaken Ronaldo and Neymar tend to be kicked a lot before they start going down easily.
 

Godfather

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He loves his dutch managers does our Tony! Seems like a different animal at the moment. Holy cow was he good today.
 

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
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question is also how he'll handle it if Ronaldo stays and he's relegated to a part-time role. Martial always seems to blossom when he is backed/trusted and falter when there's competition.
It's the opposite, Martial has always been good when he is doubted outside of last season.
 

Kostov

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Erm this is your last fecking chance Tony. An absolute joy to watch when he is like this. I wish he just recreates that Liverpool debut goal with a similar run, I know he's got it in him.
 

Infestissumam

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It's the opposite, Martial has always been good when he is doubted outside of last season.
maybe it's an unfair accusation. Just felt that way, given his best spells for us came when van Gaal and Solskjaer trusted him to be the main attacker while he did rather poorly under Mourinho. Either way, I hope he takes this chance and runs with it.
 
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