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2020-21 Performances


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Eugenius

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I just don't understand what happened to this guy, I'm not one for making sweeping judgements on the character of someone I don't know... but I can only conclude that he hasn't put the work in to become the player he should have turned in to. At 19 he was one of the best talents I had seen in football; composed finisher, nigh impossible to disposses, and had some of the quickest feet in the league.

Yet looking at him now, he seems to have regressed in quite literally every department. Even last year he looked a very good player, but not one with the brilliant ability he showed at 19... I really thought he was going tobkick on this yewr but here we are.
Only last year (probably the only year since his first season he was actually given a fair chance by his manager) he was POTY, scored 1 in 2 in the league (without penalties), held the ball up well and was our main creative player when we were regularly playing Pereira and Lingard as #10s.

I'm not sure why he's been as gone backwards this season (he's been terrible on and off the ball). But I'd wager it is something with confidence or some other issue, rather than the caf revisionist 'he's always been shite' type stuff that pops up.
 

lex talionis

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What can explain Anthony’s lack of effort?

This is the heart of the problem. Not the missed glorious chances and not the poor positioning...it’s the lack of effort.
 

Lennon

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What can explain Anthony’s lack of effort?

This is the heart of the problem. Not the missed glorious chances and not the poor positioning...it’s the lack of effort.
I don't care what it is. Fact is, he has enough time to show his abilities but didn't. He has to go ...
 

Andersons Dietician

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As a long standing member of Martial FC I’ve got to say the last game he really pissed me off.

I get there are things he does in games that in ways really help us, however he does one part of it and doesn’t go to the 2nd phase. So he drops deep a lot and fills the space Bruno vacates which is great, it has dual purposes of hopefully dragging a CB out creating space or just to keep possesion. But example of something he does too often.

He drops deep, takes the ball then I’m sure he found James. Now, this is what annoys me. For me then James has one option. Martial does start making his way to the box but he’S not going full blooded. Fare enough I believe he’s waiting to see if James can cut it back so he’s kind of slowed his run. Again something he does a lot waiting for that cut back.

Its clear James isn’t getting a cut back and has one option and I’m looking at Martial and thinking you need to go to the 6 yarder now, like right now. Any later you’re not connecting with that ball. Sure enough James plays the ball, Martial tries to get there and misses it by a split second. I was always taught if you’re the striker you make up the crossers mind for them and just make a run. Your action iS first their action is decided by what you do.

Later Greenwood come on similar scenarios but as soon as it’s fed to James he heads straight for the 6 yard box.

Its something that bugs me about Martial time and time again. Comes deep but then kind of stops.

I will give him that during the game he peeled off the CB lots of times into space between fullback and Centre back and never got the ball even though it was an easy pass and spot. However even here he isn’t standing on the turn but instead with his back to the goal Like he is preparing to hold someone off. Again if he’s standing side on he is showing he wants a ball in here so he can threaten goal. Not to mention in a game of split second judgments standing at an angle gives him the split second advantage.

Worst of all I felt normally when he is having a bad day infront of goal you can normally depend on him to at least provide semi decent hold up and bring people in to play but for whatever reason it just wasn’t happening at all.

Probably slightly more annoyed because for 5 minutes I got lured in to thinking oh the attack looks like it’s up for it today then it fell apart and really did very little of any note except for some pretty triangles.
 
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Threesus

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People last august were talking about how Rashford was going to lose his place if we signed Sancho because he was poor post-lockdown. Now, 6 months into the new season, Rashford is the one carrying the front three. I am sure if Anthony can give us something in the last 2-3 months of the season, opinions will change again.

It’s up to him to not play like a disinterested and lazy fecker.
 

McGrathsipan

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People last august were talking about how Rashford was going to lose his place if we signed Sancho because he was poor post-lockdown. Now, 6 months into the new season, Rashford is the one carrying the front three. I am sure if Anthony can give us something in the last 2-3 months of the season, opinions will change again.

It’s up to him to not play like a disinterested and lazy fecker.
Martial has mostly been a lazy disinterested fecker bar a couple of purple patches.
We know what we are getting if we play with him in the team.

Personally my opinion will never change on him as he has been what he is for most of his time at United, that is unless he totally changes.
Which he probably wont
 

acnumber9

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People last august were talking about how Rashford was going to lose his place if we signed Sancho because he was poor post-lockdown. Now, 6 months into the new season, Rashford is the one carrying the front three. I am sure if Anthony can give us something in the last 2-3 months of the season, opinions will change again.

It’s up to him to not play like a disinterested and lazy fecker.
These same people were arguing he was better than Harry Kane too. They were wrong about both.
 

Threesus

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These same people were arguing he was better than Harry Kane too. They were wrong about both.
I feel like aesthetics colors people’s perception about players. You give players a lot more leeway if they are silky on the ball, like Martial is. Unfortunately, that doesn’t alone cut it at the highest level. You need to have the necessary intangibles as well.

I am hoping he has a strong finish to the season, so that even if the club deem him not good enough anymore, we can sell him and recoup the majority of our money.
 

Sayros

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I feel like aesthetics colors people’s perception about players. You give players a lot more leeway if they are silky on the ball, like Martial is. Unfortunately, that doesn’t alone cut it at the highest level. You need to have the necessary intangibles as well.

I am hoping he has a strong finish to the season, so that even if the club deem him not good enough anymore, we can sell him and recoup the majority of our money.
The argument for me was always that Martial can do things no one else on this team can, I've seen him get out of situations with his tight control and dribble that I know for a fact no one else on the team could do like him, but he's not doing them anymore. He wasn't really doing them last season either, but he was scoring goals and being decisive until the last stretch, so that was fine but now he's not doing anything that another player couldn't do.

Whatever is going on in his head is irrelevant at this point, he's royally screwed up the credit he built last season where he was turning around even his biggest critics but it's been a bit typical of Martial. He's always, so far, followed up the high moments of his careers with a serious dip. I'm not really buying that it's the competition, like the arrivals of Lukaku, or Zlatan, and now Cavani, that makes him sulk and not want to compete, because he's managed to come back from pretty tough managerial situations in the past, so I don't think he's weak mentally when it comes to competition, but he may be weak mentally in regards to off-the-field life affecting him on the pitch. This is just my uneducated opinion, but I think he gets more affected by things off-the-field, baby-mama drama, maybe social media abuse, and who knows what else? The problem is, it's not a valid excuse because every professional deals with some kind of off-the-field drama due to their celebrity and the pitfalls that comes with that. I could be completely off, but it's just the impression I've had over these past 6 years.
 

Sparky_Hughes

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The argument for me was always that Martial can do things no one else on this team can, I've seen him get out of situations with his tight control and dribble that I know for a fact no one else on the team could do like him, but he's not doing them anymore. He wasn't really doing them last season either, but he was scoring goals and being decisive until the last stretch, so that was fine but now he's not doing anything that another player couldn't do.

Whatever is going on in his head is irrelevant at this point, he's royally screwed up the credit he built last season where he was turning around even his biggest critics but it's been a bit typical of Martial. He's always, so far, followed up the high moments of his careers with a serious dip. I'm not really buying that it's the competition, like the arrivals of Lukaku, or Zlatan, and now Cavani, that makes him sulk and not want to compete, because he's managed to come back from pretty tough managerial situations in the past, so I don't think he's weak mentally when it comes to competition, but he may be weak mentally in regards to off-the-field life affecting him on the pitch. This is just my uneducated opinion, but I think he gets more affected by things off-the-field, baby-mama drama, maybe social media abuse, and who knows what else? The problem is, it's not a valid excuse because every professional deals with some kind of off-the-field drama due to their celebrity and the pitfalls that comes with that. I could be completely off, but it's just the impression I've had over these past 6 years.
Absolutely spot on, especially when we have had players like Ronald, Becks and The King being vilified by the press and the entire country going on to have the best seasons due to sheer will power and mental toughness. No room for players with Martials kind of mentality at the very highest levels.
 

Raven

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I think Martial's form is largely at fault for us looking so disjointed in attack at times this season. He was absolutely essential to our attacking play last year I, like many others thought he'd go onto being a world class CF this season. For whatever reason, he's failed to that, and failed massively.

One of the problems, as I see it, is that Ole wants his CF to play like Martial did last season where he's half goal scorer, half creator. There are very few players who have the technical and physical ability to do what he was doing so it's very difficult to find a replacement. You can see that he's been trying out Greenwood in a similar role but he isn't physical enough yet to play it to a high level.

So, assuming he doesn't find his form again, which is looking increasingly likely, does Ole try and change our style to accommodate someone like Haaland? Does he try and convert Greenwood into a CF earlier than he had planned? Is there someone else out there that can do that job?
 

Bebestation

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I think Martial's form is largely at fault for us looking so disjointed in attack at times this season. He was absolutely essential to our attacking play last year I, like many others thought he'd go onto being a world class CF this season. For whatever reason, he's failed to that, and failed massively.

One of the problems, as I see it, is that Ole wants his CF to play like Martial did last season where he's half goal scorer, half creator. There are very few players who have the technical and physical ability to do what he was doing so it's very difficult to find a replacement. You can see that he's been trying out Greenwood in a similar role but he isn't physical enough yet to play it to a high level.

So, assuming he doesn't find his form again, which is looking increasingly likely, does Ole try and change our style to accommodate someone like Haaland? Does he try and convert Greenwood into a CF earlier than he had planned? Is there someone else out there that can do that job?
I worry about this too.

I'm excited about someone like Haaland and having a traditional goalscorer in the team - however you hear alot of people saying that they want Martial sold then i worry about not having a creative false 9 type forward in the team aswell.

We consistently play with inverted forwards right now (except James) - can we go in to a season without a creative central player as one of our forwards even if we get Haaland?

I wonder if Bruno or VDB (maybe Shoretire from the little I know of him) can do this job instead of Martial because we cant be buying a different type of forward for a long time after potentially buying someone like Haaland for a big price either. It's why I say that even if Cavani outshines Martial this season, I wouldn't be surprised if Ole kept Martial as the second striker after buying Haaland to start his games.
 

RedDevil@84

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What can explain Anthony’s lack of effort?

This is the heart of the problem. Not the missed glorious chances and not the poor positioning...it’s the lack of effort.
What difference does it make? Only the excuses keep changing every season. After a point, you try to accept that it is not working and cut him off.
 

Raven

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I worry about this too.

I'm excited about someone like Haaland and having a traditional goalscorer in the team - however you hear alot of people saying that they want Martial sold then i worry about not having a creative false 9 type forward in the team aswell.

We consistently play with inverted forwards right now (except James) - can we go in to a season without a creative central player as one of our forwards even if we get Haaland?

I wonder if Bruno or VDB (maybe Shoretire from the little I know of him) can do this job instead of Martial because we cant be buying a different type of forward for a long time after potentially buying someone like Haaland for a big price either. It's why I say that even if Cavani outshines Martial this season, I wouldn't be surprised if Ole kept Martial as the second striker after buying Haaland to start his games.
I think our style can be changed so as the build up play doesn't require as much input from our CF but Ole hasn't shown any signs that he likes playing that way. We had a world class goal scorer in Lukaku and Ole showed him the door as quickly as he could so I think he's going to look for a striker who can offer what Martial offered last season but there are very few players who can do that, which I think is why Ole is so intent on playing him into form.
 

RooneyLegend

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He doesn't fit into a side as dysfunctional as ours in general, however his finishing has been poor this season. It should be back to normal soon enough though.
 

RedDevil@84

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He doesn't fit into a side as dysfunctional as ours in general, however his finishing has been poor this season. It should be back to normal soon enough though.
So our team was functional last season and this season it became dysfunctional?
Or are you saying his form last season was just dumb luck.
 

Threesus

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I've always felt in general some players are more suited to struggle football.
What in your opinion has changed from last year? Dribbling and composure in front of goal are his biggest strengths. Both seem to have deserted him this season.
And do you think a pep or a klopp will start him over aguero/Jesus and firmino?
 

Jonno

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I think Martial's form is largely at fault for us looking so disjointed in attack at times this season. He was absolutely essential to our attacking play last year I, like many others thought he'd go onto being a world class CF this season. For whatever reason, he's failed to that, and failed massively.

One of the problems, as I see it, is that Ole wants his CF to play like Martial did last season where he's half goal scorer, half creator. There are very few players who have the technical and physical ability to do what he was doing so it's very difficult to find a replacement. You can see that he's been trying out Greenwood in a similar role but he isn't physical enough yet to play it to a high level.

So, assuming he doesn't find his form again, which is looking increasingly likely, does Ole try and change our style to accommodate someone like Haaland? Does he try and convert Greenwood into a CF earlier than he had planned? Is there someone else out there that can do that job?
Some say disjointed, others say top scorers in the PL.
 

Smores

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I worry about this too.

I'm excited about someone like Haaland and having a traditional goalscorer in the team - however you hear alot of people saying that they want Martial sold then i worry about not having a creative false 9 type forward in the team aswell.

We consistently play with inverted forwards right now (except James) - can we go in to a season without a creative central player as one of our forwards even if we get Haaland?

I wonder if Bruno or VDB (maybe Shoretire from the little I know of him) can do this job instead of Martial because we cant be buying a different type of forward for a long time after potentially buying someone like Haaland for a big price either. It's why I say that even if Cavani outshines Martial this season, I wouldn't be surprised if Ole kept Martial as the second striker after buying Haaland to start his games.
Haaland does most of what Martial did though. People massively overstate what Martial was bringing to the team last season. You watch Haaland and he does come deep to receive the ball and distribute it, the difference is he quickly turns and is the one making the movement to receive it again.

Martial tends to receive it higher if anything and plays it to one of the inside forwards for a one two. That scoring from left edge of box and running across the back of a CB for a gap were his go to last season. Harder to do all three when opponents sit deeper which is why we need someone with more to his game, see Cavani who finds gaps in tight spaces rather than just exploiting ones already there.
 

Shimo

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Feel like am jumping on the bandwagon to dumping on him. I've always just ignored all lazy labels because just because someone looks languid/disinterested, doesn't mean they are not putting in the work - especially when Ole noted how much his workrate had improved as proved by stats they were tracking. He is so talented but, it's been a matter of him really pushing on this season and that he isn't is more or less down to him.

It really boggles my mind when he has Cavani as a great example to learn off in terms of center forward play, getting in the box and being there to finish off chances. There was one particular play against Newcastle, when James was steaming down the side and Martial jogged all the way into the box, no effort to make that near post run to meet a potential cross, t wasn't until ball was played and keeper kinda spilled it that he then tried to make an effort.

That coupled with reading about how Ole as literally telling him to move and get forward but, Martial didn't seem to heed the instructions. Not sure what he is thinking, if he wants to play as 9, then surely he knows unless he starts getting the simple goals, getting at the end of crosses or at least moving the CBs around and ctually playing within the box. If he continues as he is right now, he is going to miss out on yet another major championship too with France, one that they very well could win.
 

Dr. Dwayne

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I get there are things he does in games that in ways really help us, however he does one part of it and doesn’t go to the 2nd phase. So he drops deep a lot and fills the space Bruno vacates which is great, it has duel purposes of hopefully dragging a CB out creating space or just to keep possesion.
Not picking on you specifically because I'm sure I've seen it in a few posts by others as well but it's dual, meaning two. A duel is an arranged combat between two people. Maybe it's a predictive text error, although that seems odd.
 

Sayros

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Anyone else hearing a clock ticking? Seems like it's getting louder and louder.
 

SwedishFish

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Wouldn't mind him being sold in the summer.

The inconsistent form has been there for years now, getting multiple chances to prove he can be a consistent striker, he's not up for it.

Infuriating to watch at the moment.
 

Water Melon

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Anyone else hearing a clock ticking? Seems like it's getting louder and louder.
I'd bloody hope so and Martial and his agent are hearing it as well. He either starts giving his all or finds himself benched in case he does stay at the club come autumn.
 

Stacks

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Who is going to buy him in these crazy Covid times? Everyone is skint.

I think he might still be here next season. The Glazers love him apparently and I seriously don't think we will find a club who will give us the fee we'd want and pay his wages.

Anyone tells me he's better than Rashford again I'm guna laugh in their faces. Rashford isn't perfect but my word he's different levels to this guy. Rashy at least turns up when he plays poorly and tries hard. Martial disappears.
I have no issue with him being here as he is better than many of our players and they should be sold before him. If he sign other players then he is a solid squad option.
 

DoomSlayer

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I have no issue with him being here as he is better than many of our players and they should be sold before him. If he sign other players then he is a solid squad option.
The problem is Martial is on superstar money to be a solid squad option.
 

Bebestation

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Haaland does most of what Martial did though. People massively overstate what Martial was bringing to the team last season. You watch Haaland and he does come deep to receive the ball and distribute it, the difference is he quickly turns and is the one making the movement to receive it again.

Martial tends to receive it higher if anything and plays it to one of the inside forwards for a one two. That scoring from left edge of box and running across the back of a CB for a gap were his go to last season. Harder to do all three when opponents sit deeper which is why we need someone with more to his game, see Cavani who finds gaps in tight spaces rather than just exploiting ones already there.
Fair enough. I just dont see someone like Haaland playing the general game of the CF of the recent 5 years Liverpool team without it effecting the inverted forwards.

Maybe his hold up play is good but I worry if he needs to have chances created for him rather than being the creator himself. I want Haaland here but I dont see the benefit of Haaland AND Cavani personally. I see a bit of benefit towards Haaland and Martial because they are very different in my eyes to the point that they can play an off game together in a striking partnership - haaland and Cavani in a strikers partnership I dont see working out as much.

Ultimately Martial is the player that has atleast some value so it could come to a pointless conversation and he is sold. At the same time, just because he isnt good enough for being our starting number 9 doesnt mean he is completely useless as our second striker. On the opposite side you cant be giving one of our sub players a 250k per week contract - so it's all very confusing. If martial was on a contract more relative to his ability, then is he the player we would chuck out to keep a 34 year old Cavani who plays a similar game to Haaland more so than Martial does in my eyes? I'm not sure.
 

bsCallout

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He'll be the victim of the fan crush on Haaland.

It's like comparing your girlfriend who got fat, lazy and comfortable with the young nordic blonde that seems to do everything and excites you.
 

Rawls

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Fair enough. I just dont see someone like Haaland playing the general game of the CF of the recent 5 years Liverpool team without it effecting the inverted forwards.
This is a really good point. If our long-term plan is to play Rashford on the left and Greenwood on the right, you do need more of a False 9 in order for the front three to combine properly. Haaland on the other hand would likely play better with creators as opposed to scorers either side of him which would make him an awkward fit alongside Rashford and Greenwood.

I think you've mentioned this before but for Martial to be an effective player, he doesn't need to score 20+ goals in the PL per season. Rather, something like 15 goals and 10 assists in the league for Martial with Rashford/Greenwood/Bruno being the primary scorers would make for a team that combines well together. The only problem is that Martial has come nowhere near such stats this season.
 

tjb

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Honestly these are all excuses, not for Martial, but for the mistake of judging how good he would be.

Unlike a lot of young players, Martial has had the opportunity to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world and didn't have to have seasons of absolute class like a guy like Grealish has had to do. Most players do not have the opportunity to consistently play for a team as good as ours prior to turning 26, Bruno didn't. Yet you have people here making the excuse that his lack of form has to do with our dysfunction...if that's the case, how do any players from teams below us end up with great performing seasons?

It's the issue I have always had with us hyping Martial. Would Martial have been a player we would have signed if we had let him stay at Monaco? The obvious answer is no. Why? Because even when granted with the opportunity to play with players at the level of ours, he has never truly produced anything outstanding, tbh not really even good outside of last season. When you take in the fact that he has been here since 2015/16 with poor inconsistent seasons in 16/17, moaning about competing with Rashford and being off form in 17/18, terrible in 18/19 and this season's woes, how can any one say he will come good when he's never shown that.

Rashford is two years younger and has managed to improve from year to year, even carrying us at times and having to take on the responsibility of being our most dangerous outlet at such a young age. Goals don't even begin to explain everything either. Rashford has always tried to drive with the ball and make something happen. Initially, in 16/17 he didn't have the technical ability to have any real end product and even his dribbling was uncontrolled, regularly leading to dispossessions; this was the time Martial was better than him, as even though both barely contributed and our team was relying on Ibra and Pogba almost completely ( with moments of magic from Mhiki and Mata), Martial barely contributing but having one nice run in a couple of games was still better than rashford killing attacks with poor drive attempts and poor touches. in 17/18, rashford's dribbling improved, he now had moments of controlled dribbles, but his touches were still off which meant he could only drive in situations with open spaces. This was the year he also showcased his shooting ability, but was a tad bit too selfish in taking them. This is the year Rashford overtook Martial, as Martial remained stagnant. 18/19 was generally a bad season for us, but rashford continued to develop his dribbling and significantly improved his touch, allowing him to be a much more dangerous threat in the final third, as he could now dribble laterally across the byline, in addition to cutting in, adding an extra dimension to his attacking game. This was the first year in which rashford could now be deemed a real attacking threat the could destroy teams with his pace and dribbling. Martial still stayed the same, having one or two great dribbles in 10 games and then fading away whilst Rashford, although a tad inconsistent, was now one of our key players rather than an x factor. 19/20 came and prior to Bruno coming, Rashford became our best player. The team was inconsistent, but relied on Rashford's magic moments, resulting in lots of penalties due to his singular threat. In addition to his shot, Rashford added key passes to his technical toolbox and in all his passing in the build up play improved significantly. This was a relatively good season for Martial. As a striker, the spotlight was no longer on him for build up situations and his short bursts of dribbling ability and composure in finishing situations could be highlighted as a striker. He was still inconsistent, and for me this was based on inconsistencies in his game, rather than mentality. I personally don't feel Martial has the large range of attributes required for a successful attacker threat and unlike Rashford has not developed any additional skills to make him that. Since 19/20, despite not scoring many goals, even Greenwood has developed significantly. His build up game is fantastic for an attacker, he can hold and release the ball in tight situations, his touch is good, he regularly makes the right decisions when on the ball, he has a decent passing range and he can dribble his way into good situations and out of bad ones...all in the space of a year, whilst Martial, who is now 25, still hasn't made any improvements in his game. Going back to Rashford, alongside Bruno, he and Pogba are the players we class as world class or at least close to that in the team. Martial on the other hand still displays the lack of workrate or attacking movement that has made him so ineffective for us over the years. Lukaku may have lacked a good touch, but he had the tools to make himself an effective and consistent weapon for us and he's continued to show that at Inter, regardless of our fans not liking how he looked on the ball or his attitude when he was leaving. Mentality explains the lack of improvement, but his lack of quality ( limited attributes) is why he has proven to be consistently ineffective, people just haven't gotten wise to that yet.
 

Zlatan 7

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I watched a video of our best goals over the past few years the other day and martial looked so sharp, he was making runs into the box and great link up play for some goals. Don’t know what’s happened this year but the effort, sharpness, speed or something is missing, I don’t know what but he’s not right. Seen a news article that Ole was repeatedly shouting at him to ‘move’ in one of the last games before being subbed, he shouldn’t need to be told that.
 

Bebestation

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This is a really good point. If our long-term plan is to play Rashford on the left and Greenwood on the right, you do need more of a False 9 in order for the front three to combine properly. Haaland on the other hand would likely play better with creators as opposed to scorers either side of him which would make him an awkward fit alongside Rashford and Greenwood.

I think you've mentioned this before but for Martial to be an effective player, he doesn't need to score 20+ goals in the PL per season. Rather, something like 15 goals and 10 assists in the league for Martial with Rashford/Greenwood/Bruno being the primary scorers would make for a team that combines well together. The only problem is that Martial has come nowhere near such stats this season.
Yeah and it wasnt making excuses for him. Last season after the lockdown we didnt just see Martial in some decent form - we saw Martial how he should be playing - as the glue between Rashford and Greenwood, a player to make an assist just as much as able to score a goal.This year Martial hasnt done that at all and to be fair to him neither has Greenwood as our Right inside forward but the difference is both their experience and age.

I'm just naming names off the top of my head but we need players like Sancho the RW, Grealish the LW, VDB playing more games, Pogba not to go or to be replaced with a deep lying playmaker and not Rice etc if Haaland is the man we buy.

Haaland isnt a small upcoming name anymore that would have fought for his number 9 spot from the bench like he would have done if he joined us pre dortmund, he is going to come here to United to start 95% of the games atleast and it is going to change the tactics we play and effect some of the players that have gotten us to second so far.

It's why I say that Ole going in to his potential final season with Cavani and Haaland as his primary strikers may lead to a bit of a mistake. They play a more similar game to each other in my eye than someone like Martial does; players needing creativity rather than atleast attempting to be a central creative pivot at the tip of our attack. I see Cavani in the middle of pitch now and he scores a goal when we need it but he sometimes feels like bulldog in the middle of a bunch of fast cats in the way we play the game.

We need Haaland and we need players that can get the best of him as our Plan A. However do we keep the same Plan A but just change Haaland to Cavani when we need a change to our Plan B? What about using a false 9 approach as our Plan B which can be useful when used right?

When you look at Liverpool squad during their recent most successful years - their Plan A was a false 9 and their plan B was Origi; a more traditional poacher type footballer in comparison to Firmino.

It kind of excites me that we could have it swapped around - a traditional poacher starting our games with Haaland as our Plan A, with Martial as a false 9 as our Plan B.

Ps. I've said it before I'd be fine with Martial leaving aslong as we have some player that can play a false 9 type player between 2 inverted forwards. If Bruno or VDB gets to play a game like that before proving it well then Martial's time is completely useless in my eyes.
 
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