That surprises me a bit too. I get France hasn't really had any giant clubs the size of Barca, Bayern, United, etc but surely the league is good enough on its own that people don't feel the need to support an English team.
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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I heard Rugby was the biggest sport in France up until the '98 World Cup. It might still be in a lot of ways.
I can imagine the leagues decline in recent years shifted domestic interest away, particularly as the majority of their top players moved abroad.
Yup. Last year saw some of the better players in L1 make moves to respectable BPL clubs - Ayew, Payet, Martial etc. I'd imagine the exposure in France would only increase
I think it's Chelsea. They were linked with him too, weren't they
An interchangeable front 4 with pace and technique, yes please !
I also feel that Griezmann can get much better than his current level. Much much better. After the Rooney, Falcao and Rvp front 3 of last season,we deserve that.
PL is shown quite extensively on Canal + (6 games each weekend), with a show dedicated to all the highlights, there's a certain level of exposure. Arsenal used to be the French media and fans darling, but that's changed somewhat. I'd say people that follow English football over here support Arsenal, Utd and Liverpool evenly.
In what ways would that be? Except in the South West of France, where rugby is bigger culturally speaking, France is quite easily the first sport in France.
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Can't argue with that.
Very strong words from Redknapp. I suppose he doesn't always talk shite.
But Michael Owen is not impressed
Like Rooney in Paris said, it's only true and still true in the south west and Languedoc.
Won't read much into it. It's unlikely that Redknaap is informed enough to say this. Most likely a case of him jumping on the hype train.
Neymar. But, not far off.
Redknapp has probably never heard of him a few months ago and now he's calling him the best 19 year old since Messi. Just a bit OTT there.
So Martial turned down bigger offers, huh?
How many clubs are there who can match that outlay?
It has to be Chelsea and PSG.
Perhaps he figured that United would give him the best chance of playing regularly while at a higher salary.
If we hadn't sold Welbeck, Chicharito and RVP, would Martial be here now?
How many clubs are there who can match that outlay?
It has to be Chelsea and PSG.
Perhaps he figured that United would give him the best chance of playing regularly while at a higher salary.
If we hadn't sold Welbeck, Chicharito and RVP, would Martial be here now?
he should watch him in the warm up fully stretching his hamstring
Honestly from watching him, I can't argue with that. Martial plays with such maturity and intellignence, and just looks like a world class player in his prime already despite only being 19. Of the past 10-15 years, I don't remember a teenager other then Messi and maybe Rooney looking as good as he does.
He played for Les Ulis the same under age club as Henry and Evra and was given a pair of boots which Evra gave to the club president while he was playing for United so its not impossible
Wouldn't rank him above Mario Gotze just yet to be honest (purely post Messi era, otherwise you'd have to include the likes of Cesc aswell). Easy to forget now, but there was a time when Gotze was being talked of as arguably the biggest German talent since Matthaus. Played a big role in 2 consecutive Bundesliga titles, best player in the 2009 U17 European Championship, Bundesliga team of the season, 'Golden Boy', performed really well vs Brazil in a highly scrutinized match - Gotze vs Neymar for the best teenager in football, and so forth. Martial's body of work at United is impressive, but too condensed to be making such proclamations. Then again, it's Redknapp, and the Sky hype machine. Doubt he's watched Gotze at 18 or 19.
Although, like Gotze, Martial seems almost chillingly mature and intelligent for his age, like a frost wolf, something that @bosnian_red mentioned previously. Could be a treat to watch over the years.
Although, like Gotze, Martial seems almost chillingly mature and intelligent for his age, like a frost wolf, something that @bosnian_red mentioned previously. Could be a treat to watch over the years.
How do you play France?
By using a hand when you're not supposed to
Everyone's getting a bit carried away. He's playing extremely well now, but you can't really start saying 'best 19-year-old since Messi' until he's been doing it for a year. I'm not even sure I would pick Martial over Shaw at the moment in terms of how good they are compared to other players of a similar age in their position.
Let's just enjoy it rather than going straight for the sweeping declarations.
Let's just enjoy it rather than going straight for the sweeping declarations.
What an absolute gimp
This guy seems like a brilliant prospect and I'm delighted that we signed him but how were there no big long running links with all the top clubs like a young Hazard or a young Aguero. Wenger reportedly had the chance to sign him but turned him down. (That had to be a money reason)
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But he's not literally the best young player so Jamie doesn't really mean it.
Who knew Evra was going to be as big a fan of us before he came here.same can be said of Cantona. You just never know.
I would assume Arsenal had a lot of fans in the early 2000's cos of the strong French presence in their team at the time. But Martial was 8 when Arsenal last won a league title. His first real premier league idols would probably have been the Rooney/Ronaldos or something like that.
Martial is already superior to Gotze, from a sheer talent perspective... he will prove that with ease in my opinion.Wouldn't rank him above Mario Gotze just yet to be honest (purely post Messi era, otherwise you'd have to include the likes of Cesc aswell). Easy to forget now, but there was a time when Gotze was being talked of as arguably the biggest German talent since Matthaus. Played a big role in 2 consecutive Bundesliga titles, best player in the 2009 U17 European Championship, Bundesliga team of the season, 'Golden Boy', performed really well vs Brazil in a highly scrutinized match - Gotze vs Neymar for the best teenager in football, and so forth. Martial's body of work at United is impressive, but too condensed to be making such proclamations. Then again, it's Redknapp, and the Sky hype machine. Doubt he's watched Gotze at 18 or 19.
Although, like Gotze, Martial seems almost chillingly mature and intelligent for his age, like a frost wolf, something that @bosnian_red mentioned previously. Could be a treat to watch over the years.
He is a mature player but so is Luke Shaw. I think we should slow the hype machine down a little.
He was linked with Barca, just because the English media didnt print stories doesnt mean he wasnt..I even posted the article where a senior Barca official was talking about him , in this very thread..He didnt just come out of thin air..He was a known commodity, with the Monaco chairman even saying another club offered a higher fixed amount than we did, and an offer for Martial to stay at Monaco for another year, you dont do that for mere punts, but quality...this is a proper talent, and was moving to a big club probably next year. He only moved this year because we were willing to force Monaco's hand.
Not sure I agree with this mate. Without delving into abstract arguments about what constitutes talent, Martial is not superior to what Gotze was at 19, 20 year old. I think people are getting carried away a bit here, and Gotze's time at Bayern is coloring their judgement in terms of how special he was as a youngster at Dortmund. Let's wait and see what level Martial performs at for a season or two, like Gotze did for Dortmund before making such claims. Obviously, I'm not going to name the posters, but done dredging up some posts from Gotze's thread circa 2011/ 2012; and the sentiments are kind of self-explanatory :
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Gotze was arguably the biggest talent in a sub-generation that included Neymar, Isco, Hazard, Thiago, Munain, Eriksen and so forth. Martial is awesome, but let's pump the brakes a bit. He might prove to be better in the long run, but a lot of times, those things don't boil down to pure talent. Gotze's development has been stunted somewhat by external factors that wren't all under his control - ranging from niggling fitness issues, to some minor shenanigans, apparent lack of razor sharp focus, and the label of being the most talented German since Matthaus.Anonymous said:
Look at that fecking smile.
Am I the only one seeing the sadness in his eyes?
Wonder what club he turned down for us. PSG?
I really hope his dream is to walk in the footsteps of his fellow countryman Cantona. Could not bare to see him off to Spain.
I really hope his dream is to walk in the footsteps of his fellow countryman Cantona. Could not bare to see him off to Spain.
Seems I was totally wrong on this one. Hardly surprising as I had only seen him twice before when arsenal played monaco. But he really looks the works. There are some chinks in his armour, his off the ball movement in terms of being a direct goal threat isn't there yet. He doesn't look for his own shot enough and hasn't shown anything from range yet but everything seems to be there. Very impressive by him so far.
Probably Chelsea. But, I would not put it past PsG to make such an adacious move for a player we showed interest to. Even though, I question the price tag before, I am glad we were more assertive in our pursuit and not back of the same way we did with Moura or Hazard.
He might be right, but after 4 starts? Come on.
How is Jamie Redknapp one of the foremost football pundits in a country of 64 million people? Seriously, how?
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