He's back from injury, I couldn't watch the whole game but it seems he's not in game shape yet.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Goals
- 11
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 1
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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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He is playing out of position. He isn't a left winger. Has to play centrally closer to goal where he can link up with Mata and Lukaku. Our build up play from the back as a team is too slow and Martial is one of those who are affected.
"The battle between Marcus Rashford and Antony Martial has been great to follow," Giggs told Sky Sports.
"I could definitely see them in the same team, with Marcus being more of a natural centre-forward whereas Martial is more of a left-sided forward but can also play centrally."
This is what Giggs said. It was for him that martial was bought for & only one of very few people who know that he is a left sided forward/ central forward. His ability to play as a winger has convinced people that he is a permanent left winger.
People forgot that we bought depay to play LW and Martial at CF.
Disproportionate criticism. He wasn't bad, he just wasn't great.
Martial himself said his best position is striker. All his coaches at Monaco and Lyon said the same. He plays as a striker but slightly drifts to the left hand side. Martial must operate in and around the box closer to the goal and then you'll see how good he really is. That small bit of link up with Mata shows what he can do more centrally. All his best moments are in between the lines. Not from a standing start on the touchline with 3 defenders around him. Its never going to work. There's no doubt Mourinho is not getting the best from him.
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Everyone knows Martial is a LF. His off the ball movement and attacking work rate is just not that good.
He probably was in the LW the whole of 2 times the whole of first half. I have no clue whey he's always drifting in centrally. He should be making the pitch wider not narrower. He's good coming in from the left, my brain hurts when he is roaming all over the pict except where he's good.
His off the ball movement is rubbish because he hadnt been played with a partner up front.
Play him upfront with lukaku or rashford & then tell me if he off the ball movement is rubbish. Every time he is in the centre he pulls of little movements and interplays like he does with mata where he plays one twos and runs in to spaces created.
He is more similair to the modern day yorke than he is Cole.
Is it? It could be about Lingard who did sweet FA all game or Mata who was the one that was subbed off. Martial at least showed some threat.
I feel sorry for the lad because what happened was Memphis was bought for left hand side & he flopped. Martial took over the left hand side for him the same time Rashford came & then all of a sudden everyone's forgotten that we bought him to be a striker.
I just hope he outlast's Jose's tenure because the manager has had some horrible sales. This one is only going to turn sour if we sell him to someone; anyone who plays him in his best position.
All this whilst fans talk some rubbish about Martial FC for simply not understanding his game, listening to the scout who scouted him for United, listening to the player himself.
I thought he was good today.
Finally came off the touchline and got involved in play. Usually he is hiding out on the wing, but I thought he was better today.
Finally came off the touchline and got involved in play. Usually he is hiding out on the wing, but I thought he was better today.
Jose would have taken Martial off if he was the main culprit.
I'd be interested to see his touches this game, as I thought he was on the ball quite a lot. Don't really get the "hiding" criticism he's getting here.
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That’s what I thought as well. Only Matic and Smalling (!) were good imo. Martial did some good things which created some opportunities and tried some crosses, but was invicible in parts. Certainly didn’t hide.
I don’t care who it’s about, the bit about hiding behind defenders is spot on. It was the main topic with the guy I was watching it with, every fecking time a midfielder got on the ball they looked up to static attackers standing next to or behind their marker.
If it comes down to Mourinho and Martial then Mourinho out every time. Martial is someone who can be here for the next 10 years and I don't want to lose this talent. He showed everyone what he can do in his first season and under a different manager who pritorises attacking play and plays positive football we'll see a different Martial I'm sure. I'm not going to judge any of our attacking stars like Pogba, Martial and Rashford under a defensive coach like Mourinho. Look at how Sterling was being ridiculed before Guardiola came and now look at the difference in his play. Martial is a long term project that we must be patient with because like you said 100% he'll outlast Mourinho.I feel sorry for the lad because what happened was Memphis was bought for left hand side & he flopped. Martial took over the left hand side for him the same time Rashford came & then all of a sudden everyone's forgotten that we bought him to be a striker.
I just hope he outlast's Jose's tenure because the manager has had some horrible sales. This one is only going to turn sour if we sell him to someone; anyone who plays him in his best position.
All this whilst fans talk some rubbish about Martial FC for simply not understanding his game, listening to the scout who scouted him for United, listening to the player himself.
FFS our players have always been standing like statues since SAF left. They didn't magically stop moving for Mourinho, you can see every thread after our poor games since last year, the constant point that was brought up by many was our lack of movement.
He definitely won't last the cull that Mourinho seems to be planning. He and Shaw will be the first ones out.
Did I say they did? This isn’t just about Martial for what it’s worth so is perhaps best moved to another thread but why shouldn’t Mourinho bring attention to it? We as fans recognise it’s an issue and he’s now said as much. He’s made it clear that he’s spending time working on it on the training ground and he’s pissed off that it’s completely disregarded on a game.
I thought it was about Mata. He looked a bit subdued coming off. Mourinho didn't shake his hand or pat him on the back when he came off like he normally does. Seemed to purposely stand at the far end of his technical area. I don't think he was happy with his performance based on that, but I might be getting a bit too 'body language expert' about it.
Basically he wants faster build-up play today, which didn't materialized.
Understandable annoyed reaction, after 2 days training that, and seeing his players doesn't play that way.
The only benefit to it is that United is a slightly different club towards the likes of Chelsea & Real who can sell a player for almost no reason & for it to be okay. He cannot just sell Martial like that here & this is why he has chopped and changed Rashford & Martial because as projects - he only has time for one; if that. He was ofcourse planning for Perisic which is clearly a 'jose' player in comparison to Rashford & martial.
If it was purely about him, he'd have been first subbed off rather than lasting 90 mins. All of the three behind Lukaku had a quiet game. If what Mourinho said is true about working on fast build up then that is great but disappointing it wasn't executed by anyone. Weather isn't an excuse.
You can see the touches stat here.
Who knows if he has spent enough time in the training ground? We almost always get to hear the one side only and going by Mourinho's behaviour the last week I'm not prepared to believe him.
When he played as #9 under LVG how many goals did he score? Stop this non-sense of being out of position, because he is not capable of holding the ball with his back to the goal. He makes the most threat by cutting inside from the left and this is where he will be, unless he moves to a different club with a different system. He lost his form because someone took his shirt no., he lost his form because he didn't start in his favourite position. The only valid excuse is when he didn't start. As long as you get the chance to play, run for the team.
He was certainly not one of those that were hiding. Got involved centrally, playing one-two's, dropping deep to pick up the ball. If Mourinho does think that then it only further demonstrates how he treats players differently simply based on whether he fancies them or not for whatever reason.
If Martial moves, wherever he goes, he'll smash it and join Mourinho's list of flops who turned out to be great.
Martial himself said his best position is striker. All his coaches at Monaco and Lyon said the same. He plays as a striker but slightly drifts to the left hand side. Martial must operate in and around the box closer to the goal and then you'll see how good he really is. That small bit of link up with Mata shows what he can do more centrally. All his best moments are in between the lines. Not from a standing start on the touchline with 3 defenders around him. Its never going to work. There's no doubt Mourinho is not getting the best from him. Unfortunately he isn't going to play as a striker whilst Mourinho is in charge given his preference for Lukaku which is OK but the best option right now is to use Martial as a wide forward in a 3-4-3 formation with wingbacks like we did away at CSKA Moscow. Martial was MOTM and that's because he had more space to drift inside and link with Lukaku. We scored 3 in 20 minutes. Also the Arsenal game the assist for Lingard 2nd goal is another example of what he can do when he's more central and closer to goal. Just need to stop this 4-2-3-1 because we don't have any proper wingers. We have strikers/ wide forwards in Martial and Rashford so let's use 3-4-3 and when we improve the midfield in the summer switch to 4-3-3.
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This is 100% correct.
It isn't nonsense when 3/4 of his managers regard him as a forward, he thinks of himself of as a forward and our scout to bring him to United regard him as a forward. There is this big habit of ours that seem to regard any guy who can half dribble should be made to cut in on his stronger foot ever since Ronaldo's rise at old trafford. Football isnt that simple & neither Rashford nor Martial are going to be a Ronaldo type player who plays off the wings & ever have more than 2 games or 3 in a row where they can be consistent when playing like that.
Martial is a CF who plays off other player- slight playing on the left hand side of them.
And your " as long as you get chance to play, run for the team" - he has done just that playing in 2 & a half season in a position that he clearly struggles in (yet produces the goods & goals relatively often).
I played football from the ages of 7 - 16/17 and no on this entire green earth ever told me to move to find space. It should literally be the very basic trait of any footballer any where on the planet. Pass and fecking move. But our players don't seem to know this. It begs the question, how are they professionals? Basic competences, skills and experience are required for ANY job but this place makes it sound like our players are babies and have to be taught every skill in the playbook.
Best our attack has looked this season has been when we've played a 3-5-2/5-3-2, the key to this, the great striker partnership that Martial and Lukaku formed, it doesn't take a genius to work out that this is the best way to get the best out of both Martial and Lukaku.
De Gea
Valencia Bailly Smalling Rojo Young
Pogba Matic
Lingard
Lukaku Martial
This is the best way to destroy any other big team from what I've seen this season.
De Gea
Valencia Bailly Smalling Rojo Young
Pogba Matic
Lingard
Lukaku Martial
This is the best way to destroy any other big team from what I've seen this season.
Martial has so much talent it's not funny, but just doesn't know how to use it to it's maximum.
I do believe that Martial, more than just about anybody else, would thrive if we had better movement in attacking areas. His passing, vision and interplay would create so many chances for others, and that extra movement would theoretically pull people away from him and give him more space to run into. However he can't complain about that as he himself is by far, by an absolutely country mile, the worst at movement himself. I honestly can't remember ever watching somebody with that much talent but so little understanding of what spaces to move into.
I do believe that Martial, more than just about anybody else, would thrive if we had better movement in attacking areas. His passing, vision and interplay would create so many chances for others, and that extra movement would theoretically pull people away from him and give him more space to run into. However he can't complain about that as he himself is by far, by an absolutely country mile, the worst at movement himself. I honestly can't remember ever watching somebody with that much talent but so little understanding of what spaces to move into.
Movement? That's for foot soldiers like Lingard. Geniuses like Martial? They don't do movement. They sulk.
He wasnt great but he also doesnt deserve over the top critism. Hes also been overlooked since sanchez came in so needs to get his confidence back.
Look at Lukaku and then look at Martial. Their mentalities and will for the team are planets apart. People need to wake up, his dribbling wont make up for it, not at the top level.
Stick him in the right team he'll be lethal, in ours he's pretty ineffective with our slow build up, and unimaginative/infrequent attacks.
Not saying Jose wants to sell him, but not sure he's that fussed about him either, if he does go then you can add him to Salah and De Bruyne as poor judgement of a star player in the making by Jose.
Not saying Jose wants to sell him, but not sure he's that fussed about him either, if he does go then you can add him to Salah and De Bruyne as poor judgement of a star player in the making by Jose.
Martial was one of our best performers prior to Sanhcez. 3 times player of the month. Just saying.
I thought he played well. Not much came off, but he did what the manager asked of him. He showed for the ball and tried to be incisive, that’s why he remained on the field, and why I believe the comments weren’t aimed at him.
I like Martial but he is like so many players here, just when you think they've turned a corner it's back to the same old shit. The talent is clearly there but like Pogba, these are emotionally immature players that can only seem to play when the conditions (and I don't mean the weather) are right. I've watched these players sulk around the pitch be selfish in their play and when you need them the most, have gone missing.
It's like a car I once owned. It looked fantastic and would turn heads wherever I drove it. Downside, I never knew whether it would start or not. No point having something that looks great, if it's completely unreliable.
It's like a car I once owned. It looked fantastic and would turn heads wherever I drove it. Downside, I never knew whether it would start or not. No point having something that looks great, if it's completely unreliable.
Fully agree. Was very surprised to see the reactions from others, he tried to do something positive every time he got on the ball, he was just starved of it and also starved of players on his wavelength
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