It is not an excuse for players missing chances, it is the reason for the magnification
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
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Yes he probably does not do any endurance training, United´s fitness coaches are probably not aware of this
Frustrating af watching someone so talented just not giving everything he´s got, he is probably 30% of the reason i bother watching our games. But his lack of interest is getting to me, and surely it is getting to Mourinho aswell. Unfortunately i think Jose was too soft on him if anything.
This guy has been clinical most of the season, producing at the same level as players who have played like 10 more games than him in the league, whilst showing improvements in all aspects of his game; has one game where he's not clinical and posters get their knickers in twists calling him lazy, a bottler, lacks drive, should be benched or sold. 
That’s a fair point. It’s something that needs to happen more often.
Someone said the other day he isn't clinical because he doesn't have 25 goals in the league. He's only had around 40 shots in the competition.This guy has been clinical most of the season, producing at the same level as players who have played like 10 more games than him in the league, whilst showing improvements in all aspects of his game; has one game where he's not clinical and posters get their knickers in twists calling him lazy, a bottler, lacks drive, should be benched or sold.
Sterling was always good but lacked an end product. Anyone who thought otherwise was a moron. All that's changed is him taking the chances he routinely missed before.
Twice the player Martial is.
So if I praise him it doesn't count? fecking idiotic statement. Sanchez was voted our best player on here so you’re wrong again. Like I said he’s had bad games and I didn’t come in here so you’re just talking bollocks.
See, this is moronic. Put Sterling in our team in place of Martial and we'll be no better off.
Pretty lame reply. Yes Sanchez won the ball back and all our forwards bar martial tried running towards the box but martial was strolling . That has nothing to do with tactics or whether teams press. And this is not just one instance , he has a habit of switching off.
Like I said he is super talented but his off the ball movement is one of the worst I have seen.
I have to completely disagree. Like @SS implies, it all comes down to coaching. If José had Sterling when taking over, he'd probably still be as inconsistent as ever (like all of our attackers) whereas if Pep had took over with Martial in his squad he would have most likely gone up a level like Sané and Sterling.
Sterling still misses chances but the thing is, the City players know more will come so aren't as pressured into burying there's fearing it might be the only clear cut chance they'll come by. You can tell the pressure weighs on our attackers shoulders to finish their chances because they're hard to come by for us.
Unbelievable, the more I read the caf the less I dismiss the claims that the government is putting something in the water
Sterling was always better at beating players. He's done it so naturally since bursting onto the scene at Liverpool - I've always rated him higher than most. He had a better season in 2014 than Martial has had in his career - A huge part of a world class attack. This isn't just Pep's work - He's always been an incredible talent. he didn't cost what he did for no reason.
Obviously he gets more chances - He plays with better players in a better, more attacking team but he's also a huge part of their success. Not saying Pep hasn't improved him but to attribute so much credit to the coach is just ridiculous. Some of his goals and individual displays are just fantastic and far beyond anything Martial has shown. You look at the difference in their off the ball movement - Sterling and is just relentless - Constantly showing short before spinning in behind, constantly pressing out of possession, qualities he's been showing for years - This is where Martial is just awful. There's no urgency to him, even with the ball he's less direct and constantly seems to delay taking on his man, even though he's rather good at it. He's lets the full back off the hook - He should be a nightmare to go up against but instead you see him leisurely strutting around making pretty predictable runs. It's not good enough.
Martial is obviously extremely talented. But he's extremely frustrating and needs to drop the bad habits - I do think he's seriously overrated among United fans, largely because there's not too many better by comparison in the team.
I agree. Though, bar that one season where everything just clicked for Liverpool, he's always been inconsistent, imo. Pep deserves a tonne of credit for helping him find the consistency he has this season.
I'm not denying that he's a big part of their success and is a big contributor to how they're able to play, but it's mainly because of Pep and the way he sets his teams up, and I'm not trying to take credit away from Sterling himself but that's the way I see it. Under a more pragmatic manager I don't think he'd be doing as well as he has been, and vice versa for Martial.
I have to disagree that Sterling's individual displays and some of his goals are far beyond anything Martial's shown. Martial has scored some cracking goals - some of them all down to himself and his talent. In terms of their general play, I completely agree with you there.
Bar the overrated part, I agree.
Maybe I'm giving him too much leeway but I find it hard to judge him (and most of our squad) under José because we seem to have no game plan whatsoever. If we had some semblance of a plan it'd be easier to judge for me personally.
You really believe that? Imagine Sanchez, Lukaku and Sterling. That would be deadly.
That's actually exactly what he shouldn't be doing, trying to dribble past players every time he gets the ball. This is something I constantly hear, people complaining about back-sideway passes. In reality, most should be backward or sideways. Because you can't risk losing the ball all the time. Making the decision on when to dribble and when to keep the ball is difficult for young players, they tend to try and run at defenders all the time and create a bunch of turnovers. That's something you get with experience. But I think Martial does it pretty well. Had he been doing it more often, his dis/uns would look even worse than it already is.
He's a more effective player, runs and works harder for the team. He would indeed improve us. Not a better player than Martial just a better fit into Jose' system for me...
His movement is actually poor, he's nearly always playing on his heels which gives the opposition time to get into position to shackle him which has thus far resulted in us looking static and him looking very predictable. For someone with his ability he shouldn't be passive for long periods of the game. He doesn't need to dribble all the time, that's not what I said. But there should be an urgency to quicken the tempo like what Sanchez does. Some compare him to Ousmane Dembele, Mbappe and a young Ribery potentially but all three of his fellow country men play with a urgency that I'm not seeing with Martial at all.
Yeah, his movement off the ball is not good at all. It's somewhat better with the ball but as you said, he does lack urgency when he gets the ball. He needs to make his mind up quicker, to not let the defense set.
Huddersfield 0:2 Man Utd
That phase of play ~89:20 today.
He's unbelievable at times.
He's unbelievable at times.
Yeah he looks like he has come on to prove something today. Some of ithose skills. The roll back pause thing was justThat phase of play ~89:20 today.
He's unbelievable at times.
Good cameo
Class in his 10ish minutes today. Very direct and purposeful on the ball and that's what we want to see from him because he obviously has ridiculous talent.
We need to find a way to play him and Sanchez.
Hopefully he learns how to be more direct from Sanchez. He'll be a complete player if this happens.
At the moment both him and Sanchez prefer to play on the left so it can be helped. They need to keep rotating on this position with Rashford moved to rotate with Lukaku on striker position. Can't see a formation in which both will play together except if Martial play as a striker.
At the moment both him and Sanchez prefer to play on the left so it can be helped. They need to keep rotating on this position with Rashford moved to rotate with Lukaku on striker position. Can't see a formation in which both will play together except if Martial play as a striker.
More of this please, and he should defo hire a dedicated coach to improve his movement if he wants to reach the very top, too often he just waits for the ball when correct and easy option is to just get in behind the defender and receive the ball on the run.
Also actually liked that he called up Matic for not giving him the ball and gave him a mouthful and didn’t back down when Matic was walking towards him like he was going to square up to him.
Also tracked his man and got back and helped Shaw out unlike some.
Also tracked his man and got back and helped Shaw out unlike some.
Electric when he came on. If we want to have a good finish to the season we must find a way to play Lukaku, Alexis and Martial together.
Looks ready for Sevilla
Sanchez drifts all over the place.
Just place him in the centre and this boy on the left.
His feet are magic.
Just place him in the centre and this boy on the left.
His feet are magic.
It will be a shame if this boy doesn't become a world class playercat utd because He will easily become one at another top club that encourages skillfull attacking players
Ha ha no way Rashford rotates with Lukaku unless or until the latter gets injured. Mourinho doesn't seem to like playing without a targetman type upfront.
Exactly. Just let Sanchez roam in the middle, Lingard has been useless these last three games.
He will be benched again mostly. Can't really criticize Mourinho for this, Sanchez right now is a better player and having Mata on the right is much better than having Martial/Rashford.
Martial played well on the right against Newcastle despite the missed chances, benching him for a guy like mata who gets easily barged off the ball and lacks pace and exposiveness would be the wrong move
Good cameo. Eventually we will see him and Sanchez play together and do it well. Patience is needed.
Great cameo. Show hunger and intensity driving forward. Hope he keeps up as this development and his talent would take him to next level.
There would be plenty of fine tuning and this requires both Martial Alexis, even Lukaku to play always at optimal level to make it work playing Alexis from central area behind Lukaku. Unfortunately, it's extremely risky given they don't have pre season together and we're deep into the season with less margin for error.
For now either needs to make sacrifice playing on right wing beside dead rubber match when we can experiment.
It doesn't always work like that in real time. Alexis drifts around plenty, but he still prefers the wide area not being occupied so he can utilize that space whenever he sees fit. He's not a conventional forward or no 10 who naturally stay central, making subtleice move and passing machine.
There would be plenty of fine tuning and this requires both Martial Alexis, even Lukaku to play always at optimal level to make it work playing Alexis from central area behind Lukaku. Unfortunately, it's extremely risky given they don't have pre season together and we're deep into the season with less margin for error.
For now either needs to make sacrifice playing on right wing beside dead rubber match when we can experiment.
Honestly in the rare occasions they’ve sort of been in each other’s areas they’ve linked up quite well and done some nice things that bodes well for the future. Personaly I would have had Sanchez right and Martial left, but seeing the brief moments how they’ve worked together I’d probably put Sanchez central. They just from the brief moments I’ve seen have an understanding of what the other wants to do.
I think eventually that is exactly what will happen. Genuinely don't think Sanchez really needs the left wing as much in the way he plays as much as Martial does at this moment in time.
His entire way of dribbling and shooting is affected by the flank he uses (though maybe he can become more all rounded by learning to play on the right). Results wise though for the side right now I think Sanchez on the right will probably be needed for say big CL game where we need both of them on pitch
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