How on earth is that "clearly a dig at Martial"? Baseless comment.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Goals
- 11
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 1
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His passing is quite dodgy eh, like he could feed lukaku on one occasion (from the left) but he messed it up. Wonder if it's a concentration issue. His finishing though is very good, particularly with his right.
Maybe Jose will play 3-5-2 against weaker opponents that sit back and defend. Then the 2 would be from Lukaku, Rashford or Martial, and they can all be happy.
Martial would've got zero context out of Mourinho press conference. Unless Jose has talked directly to Martial, he's fine.
He looked lively and was probably our best player in the second half team.
Liked his aggression, he needs to continue playing with a point to prove He'll make a huge difference to our squad if he can get to the level that is expected of him or at least up there.
Lukaku could have squared one to Martial just before that I believe so maybe it was a bit of 'taste your own medicine'. It's pre season though, everybody is desperate to score so I'm not overally fussed about the chemistry/link up type of stuff just yet. All about fitness.
Exactly my thoughts about him.
I'll be sad if he doesn't make it for us. Juve or some lame feckers will probably make him a star player
Along with pereira our best player in this half IMO, despite the miss just now. Sharp on the ball, making good runs, positive, strong... Should be starting either out wide or alongside Lukaku, Rashford doesn't have much on him IMO.
He's a better player than Rashford hands down. Just Rashford works much harder which Jose appreciates.
That touch to set himself off the through ball by Pereira was top class.
his finishing needs a lot of work - that's his priority if he wants in the team
Haven't watched any game, how has his movement been?
I've heard he's been very aggressive which is good to hear.
I've heard he's been very aggressive which is good to hear.
He looks really up for it which is great news. Needs a bit more composure and he'll be banging them in.
Yet when he first joined he looked calm, composed and clinical. Could well just be a confidence thing, similar to what Rashford when through last season in fact.
As has been the issue last season, his movement is what needs the most work, over his finishing. I think his finishing is a matter of confidence as Trigg mentioned. The off-the-ball movement is just a lack of knowledge that would go a long way to putting him in better scoring position which will improve his finishing over time as he gets into more and more 1v1 situations.
Looks a lot more comfortable these days. Even seems to be speaking more English.
The annoying thing for me is surely this is just a coaching issue! Also, what are his friends and family doing? are they not watching him and giving him any advice?
Also, If/when he becomes decisive when he cuts in, he will bang them in for fun. There's been a few times when he beats his man, cuts inside but takes a touch or 2 too many and gets his shot blocked.
Only just watched last night's game but i was disappointed to see him brought off. Thought he was looking good but a bit rusty. He was still looking sharper than the rest though and producing by far the most dangerous moments.
Brought off?
Wasn't he a substitute?
Yeah and he got subbed off again.
Who gives a shit? It's a meaningless friendly.
Yeah. As Mourinho put it, a training match.
Whilst true, its a bit disappointing because you can see that Martial has been visibly trying harder to work on his game and apply himself more in these friendlies. It just feels like a kick in the teeth for him. Whilst its a friendly to the fans, the players are trying to impress the manager and likely taking it more serious. Especially when their future is potentially in contention.
And whilst I'm no body language expert, you could see he was pissed off about it.
I don't think we can see the best of martial by playing him as a left midfielder. I have seen many times him receiving the ball in the half line. Someone must tell jose he is not a left midfielder.
He's not going to make it here as a striker imo. Rashford and Lukaku are both ahead of him. His best season for us he was played wide left for the majority of it.
He just needs to add more to his game and work hard and Jose will love him.
I can't remember who, I think @JPRouve said that his movement was an issue at Monaco too. So he has basically failed to improve that side of his game under three different managers, with three different sets of coaches.
Maybe, just maybe, it's him.
He was improving at Monaco, so no it's not just him. The main problem is that he moved while he was working on it and LVG needed to exploit his current abilities to the fullest more than tweaking them. That's why I didn't like the move, I could tell you the same thing about Kondogbia.
It often seems this is pretty much the thing with Martial. He doesn't really have the skillset and workrate for the traditional wide role. We know that.
Thinking out loud about it though, he played in a system last season that more often than not required the left full back to stay back, and both defend that area of the flank, and support the center backs a little further infield. His role maybe then, could or should have been more about combining and interchanging with Pogba, and the #10 and #9 when we played that way, not really about tirelessly always traipsing back near the corner flag to defend. That is surely both less work than your usual wide man, and more fun. Most forwards are expected to track back at least a little, or press from the front these days, so some of that work would be expected anywhere.
His personal problems must've contributed a lot to his season, which is a shame as it hints to a fragile mentality in terms of what's expected of footballers these days. He is just a kid really though, so we can't blame him entirely for that.
Still best suited as a #9 in this league, for me. It's yet to be seen how we set out this season though, so there's hope yet.
Martial biggest strength for me has been the cutting in from the left and shooting move which simply hasn't been working for him. He's not a very good crosser with his left. His skillset is pretty limited for such a high profile signing. He should just put his head down and work hard and not look so deflated when something does not work out for him. If the likes of Robben could make a career out of cutting in from the right and shooting he can do it on the left
More than his movement, his shooting ability is a big concern to me. The boy still doesn't know how to properly strike the ball depending on various situations.
He can cut alright but shooting is a big problem because it's so inconsistent (with few instances of good shots)
Guess the question here is where does Martial sees his future; and where would Jose likely deploy him in our current setup. Martial would love to lead the line, but I don't think he is at his best when playing with his back to goal. I would rather see him running with the ball at his feet, and trying to make some headway.
I have to say, Martial in his first season was a revelation as he was just an unknown quantity and defenders hadn't seen much of him. The issue with every young player is confidence - if things don't seem like going your way, they tend to fall off by the wayside and take an awful amount of time recovering lost mojo.
He would better served this season with Lukaku upfront than last year with Zlatan who often dropped too deep to receive the ball. He ended up creating a void for Martial to run into, but he didn't feel confident enough to be making those neat little runs. Lukaku, on the other hand, would hardly drop deeper than the centre circle even when defending deep, ergo providing an outlet to play those one-twos to get his jet-setting feet rolling again.
This is the one reason that I believe both Rashford and Martial will have far better seasons than last term. They would be the willing runners playing off those balls that are zipped up to Lukaku.
I would see what folks here on the Caf have to say on this!
I have to say, Martial in his first season was a revelation as he was just an unknown quantity and defenders hadn't seen much of him. The issue with every young player is confidence - if things don't seem like going your way, they tend to fall off by the wayside and take an awful amount of time recovering lost mojo.
He would better served this season with Lukaku upfront than last year with Zlatan who often dropped too deep to receive the ball. He ended up creating a void for Martial to run into, but he didn't feel confident enough to be making those neat little runs. Lukaku, on the other hand, would hardly drop deeper than the centre circle even when defending deep, ergo providing an outlet to play those one-twos to get his jet-setting feet rolling again.
This is the one reason that I believe both Rashford and Martial will have far better seasons than last term. They would be the willing runners playing off those balls that are zipped up to Lukaku.
I would see what folks here on the Caf have to say on this!
Depending on various situations 
Jesus christ
Jesus christ
Was thinking this just this morning, perhaps playing the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 in the bigger games and in Europe. Seems to make sense with the group of players we have got and the targets we are being linked to (Perisic for LWB and Matic CDM/CM). Also means martial rashford and lukaku can all get game time up front.
He got subbed for a defender in the 90th minute, with us down to 10 men. Hardly a damning fact is it?
Great post. I agree, I think Lukaku's tendency to stretch the field will only benefit Martial. Center backs will have to respect Lukaku's ability to turn them, and like you said, Lukaku doesn't drop as deep as Zlatan. I think this will create space out wide on the left for Martial, and underneath either for Martial to cut in, or for Mkhi cutting in from the right / Pogba pushing forward from the midfield.
I think there's a good chance (assuming we don't get Perisic) that Martial starts for us at the beginning of the season. Even though Rashford may have been better than him this past year, I think Jose will want to have Rashford as an option off the bench to replace Lukaku like for like (similar to how Rashford started on the bench much of the season while Zlatan was healthy). I've liked what I've seen from him thus far in preseason, and hope he can take this attitude and kick on this season.
Agree mate, great post. I think a really promising partnership up front could be with Lukaku as the guy to lead the line then Martial off the shoulder. Would love to see Romelu staying up top and fighting for every ball as I think he is our best forward with his back to goal, with Martial buzzing around up willing to take players on. If AM can recover his form from his first season it could be a devastating partnership.
Would love to see this as well, as I think it would get a lot out of Martial (or Rashford could play a similar role). I think this will be an option if we play with two strikers, presumably in a 3-5-2. The problem right now is that without Perisic, it's hard for me to see who will play the left wing back in this if not Martial. Perhaps Darmian, perhaps Lingard I guess. And Shaw would potentially be perfect, but feels like a stretch to rely on him for that. I think of him as being too slow for it, but didn't Blind play some wingback for LVG's Holland team?
The only issue that I potentially see with Martial is his over indulgence in beating a man than looking for a pass. Guess you can write that down to his youthful nature; but with Jose I have no doubt that these small changes to his game will ironed out sooner rather than later.
Even if we end up getting Perisic, I believe Martial will start a good number of games and will have a solid chance of establishing his place in the starting XI.
If he can notch up 15+ goals and 10+ assists in the league this season, I will consider it a good return. What expectations do you think we can have from him this season?
Even if we end up getting Perisic, I believe Martial will start a good number of games and will have a solid chance of establishing his place in the starting XI.
If he can notch up 15+ goals and 10+ assists in the league this season, I will consider it a good return. What expectations do you think we can have from him this season?
Robben has the winger instinct in him that he likes to take defender on. He has eye for space to attack. Martial has the pac, techincal ability, even strength but his instinct is of a forward. He only switch. on in certain area closer to opposition goal. And he prefers ball to the feet which is a problem given this area is often well guarded.
I think the sign is positive that he looks like more comfortable with the group & looks sharp even though it's pre seasn
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