I noticed him at the final whistle slump to knees and look absolutely distraught because he'd just missed a 1 v 1. Shows a real determination for me, I've been a sceptic at times but he's playing out of his skin for us.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 38
- Goals
- 12
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 2
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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Hat-trick?
Assist, goal goal... hat trick
Some can argue that Martial is now starting to play the way Mourinho wants so that's why he's getting this run of game and playing well. We can see an improvement on his work rate defensively, perhaps taking training more seriously, and that he couldn't perform before because his stamina wasn't up to par to be both effective and dangerous offensively without being anonymous defensively. I would argue that it was far more foolish to choose to sacrifice months of development and what he brought offensively on this team because the defensive work rate wasn't up to snuff, especially when he had a big impact on goals and results prior to Sanchez coming in for his spot. The other perceived improvements on his game, like his running, motor, and decision-making is not something I agree with. I think he showed that his very first season here. However, I agree he played uninterested at times as well. He is playing with more confidence, and with three years now at United, he is more effective than he was at 19 years old, but the overall game is the same.
The reason why Martial is succeeding now is the same as why he was succeeding in last season, he is feeling confident and he is in a rhythm, something that's been difficult to get under Mourinho. He also now has the benefit of an in-form Luke Shaw behind him, and even though Rashford wasn't great, he is also offering more movement and opening up more spaces for Martial to attack than Lukaku. So the two latter things are something that benefits him even more than last season. But when I hear Mourinho say Martial is now doing things he couldn't do before, all he can be talking about is the defensive work-rate, nothing about the goals he's scored or the impact he's had offensively is new.
The reason why Martial is succeeding now is the same as why he was succeeding in last season, he is feeling confident and he is in a rhythm, something that's been difficult to get under Mourinho. He also now has the benefit of an in-form Luke Shaw behind him, and even though Rashford wasn't great, he is also offering more movement and opening up more spaces for Martial to attack than Lukaku. So the two latter things are something that benefits him even more than last season. But when I hear Mourinho say Martial is now doing things he couldn't do before, all he can be talking about is the defensive work-rate, nothing about the goals he's scored or the impact he's had offensively is new.
Martial was playing worse though. From Arsenal away to Everton he was doing absolutely nothing. When he was dropped it was something like 3 goals in 12 (?) and little else.
This Martial seems different. Last year he fought with Rashford but bent v Sanchez. Maybe this year its different.
Sign the ting.
Absolute rubbish. Nothing ridiculous about it whatsoever. Martial was in great form and our right wing was the serious problem area in the team at the time. So given Sanchez has played right wing and been more than capable there in the past, it makes perfect sense that the vast majority of us assumed our inform player at the time would keep his place.
None of that is true. In his first season his movement was very good. He used to get in behind defences a lot. He now always wants the ball to feet. Even today how many times did he actually attack the space? He got the ball played to feet and he went at the defence. It wasn't his movement that caused Everton problems it was his work on the ball. So what your saying doesn't even make sense because there was no difference. He won the penalty by getting the defender 1v1 like he has always done since the first day he came here.
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Very good again tonight, so happy for him. He basically carried all the attacking threat. Shame about the miss at the end, but oh well.
Sign the contract Tony Marshall.
Sign the contract Tony Marshall.
Twat
Complete balance performance.
Attacking as we know it, defensively superb and his off the ball movements have improved by a huge leap.
Attacking as we know it, defensively superb and his off the ball movements have improved by a huge leap.
Some people really can't handle that it's up to Martial if he gets in the team. Now he is because he's deserved it. But that's lunacy to some.
Whilst I don't suddenly put his good performance down to Jose ( this is just the continuation of his football he was playing last year before jose replaced him for his new/old toy) - one thing I have noticed and want to give Jose positives about is that Martial looks a bit more beefy and muscular these days? Has anyone noticed?
He seemed to understand just fine before you got here, cnut.
Fecking hate these self-serving, back-handed compliments that Mourinho is so fond of.
Well Martial was our player of the month in January and didnt get a fair chance (emphasis on fair) between February and the last few weeks. Hes only back in because Mourinho has seemingly given up on Sanchez (and Woodward refusing to sell him). Yeah, at a certain point players make themselves undroppable, but he was still treated unfairly and first chance Mourinho has to take him out, he took it instead of trusting him.
MourinhoBoy he can bend it.
This is what Martial is about..Terrorising defender like he did in the first year with us.
I hope he continue this form..But he should have scored the on one-on-one..
I hope he continue this form..But he should have scored the on one-on-one..
There’s not a single full back that will ever be comfortable playing against him at any moment in the game. There’s very few players you say that about. That feeling is contagious to the rest of the oppositions back 4 and it puts them on the backfoot.
Him, Pogba, lindleof, Shaw and DDG have been consistently the spine of our performances
Him, Pogba, lindleof, Shaw and DDG have been consistently the spine of our performances
As I said before, he's a special player, who to me, should be giving more attacking freedom. He is so good at one vs ones that he should be left up to do what he does best, because when he's on it he's devastating.
If I were Mourinho, I'd use him how Palace use Zaha. Leave him up top so that when we attack, all his energy can go towards that.
I posted the same earlier in the match day thread
I think he'd pick up so many more goals if played like this.
If I were Mourinho, I'd use him how Palace use Zaha. Leave him up top so that when we attack, all his energy can go towards that.
I posted the same earlier in the match day thread
I think he'd pick up so many more goals if played like this.
The two decisive situations he found himself today, at his best he is unplayable in those moments. Those two instances are trademark Martial. Any defender will find it difficult to deal with him 1v1 with his dribbling and close control.
Saw the press conference and I knew this would get extracted and tweeted. I am a big fan of Martial but I kind of understand what Mourinho was saying. He went on to become with complimentary to Martial after he said this.
Martial has been very much a player that faded in and out of performances during the Mourinho era, if he plays like (against Everton) even when he doesn't score he's a fantastic player, he's trying to get involved more (offensively and defensively) - that is where the improvement lies, you can see that and it's working to our benefit. That's all that was really said, If you can't take a manager that says this to his players then I'm sure you'd be in tears for Martial if he was under a young SAF's management. Only difference is SAF would do it indoors.
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Not provocative enough as the Bill Rice tweet so no cookie for you.
Seemed disappointed at the final whistle, maybe hurt that he should have buried it and made it 3-1.
Retweeted by Martial.
The whole situation has been a waste of everyone's time. Martial's current form could have been achieved earlier if Mourinho wasn't so stubborn with Sanchez at first.
Welcome to the Martial thread, where logic is met with something about him scoring a couple of goals, and enjoyment when he plays well is met with bitterness about the rest of the time, sprinkled with a few 'I told you sos' as if it means anything before it wasn't justified.
We really don't know what happened behind closed doors when we signed Sanchez. Unfortunately, I get the impression Martial's reaction was poor. I'm not saying it was a good idea to move him to the right while in form, and that's on Mourinho, but the way his performances dropped off a cliff and didn't recover suggested a deeper lying problem. I love to watch him play, and I hope he thrives here for a very long time, and becomes the player we all hoped he could become when he scored his first goal... but I can see where Mourinho is coming from too.
What’s with all the back pages running with the Martial is a diver? Looked a clear cut penalty to me, don’t get the ball and stick your leg out right in front of a striker and he trips over it! That’s a penalty, I don’t get the reaction afterwards nor the media’s slant on it.
Tbf to Mourinho, that isn't anything offensive. Tweets as usual taken out of context.These are the quotes from the official website. Came here and see people dissecting a quote from the middle.
Still, the point that Mourinho wasted ours and Martial's time by taking so long to drop Sanchez stands. Jose is literally hanging onto the job because of three players - Martial, Pogba and De Gea - who all seem to want to leave the club.
Better late than never, I guess, hope Martial signs the contract.
He had gotten past the challenge and dragged the leg that wasn't hit down as if it had been hit for the penalty. To me, it was a dive, and if I remember right I think even the defender got a piece of the ball before any contact.
I'm pretty sure he was so disappointed with himself about that miss and took his time griefing after the final whistle.
Nice stuff to see. Well Martial, you can get back up and score the next one for us!
Excellent all round yesterday. Great finish for the goal. Must keep starting for the next few weeks at least.
It’s a penalty. It’s also a dive. He didn’t have to flail about after actually getting fouled.
Are you really surprised? I'm not sure it was a penalty, but I think it's one of those properly debatable ones. The defender got a touch on the ball, but got more of the player, and even after he touched it, it was still in play, in the direction Martial was running. Martial is apparently then supposed to make every effort to avoid losing his balance (which he clearly lost just before the arms went up)... and the attack was impeded. The actual fall was exaggerated, but that's a two-way street. Players exaggerated reactions to contact are a direct result of officials not giving fouls when they feel there hasn't been enough contact. Now that players go down the way they do, the threshold for theatrics has been raised quite a bit. VAR done well would solve both problems.
Something I did find very interesting though, the 3 ex-pros in the Sky studio all said it was a good tackle, and both the referee on the pitch and the one in the studio said it was a penalty.
No assist. Pogba pen was saved.Assist, goal goal... hat trick
Yeah clearly got the ball first, wasn't a penalty for me either.
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