9
Yeah, Pereira was pretty good overall yesterday. It was just the 2 long shots he decided to take on that annoyed me.I hear you, but what he said was funny and true re Rashford. I want him to score as many as he can but it's also very frustrating when he gets too selfish with a better option available. One of the things Marcus needs to learn as he matures is knowing the right time to go solo or give a lay off to a better placed teammate, that will help him to reach the top level.
Yeah there was a split second for a great through ball to Martial, and given his quality and the adrenaline he had after that tackle, he would most likely have pulled off something great. The pass to Andreas was good, and he just bottled taking up any of the options ahead of him. I give him slack for this game though, he contributed fairly well to the win.
It has more to do with the Caf having a reactionary and knee jerk bunch. Most caftards have convinced themselves that the current flavor of the month Haaland is some Messi level talent(despite the same lots never having watched him much beside highlights) so they feel the need to have a reason for wanting in a new striker ASAP so they can justify their thirst for a new toy in Haaland.Against Watford he had the joint highest rating according to whoscored but it still wasnt enough for most on here. He has been very consistent this season regardless of what we all think. Right now he has an average rating of 7.26 while Rashford has an average rating of 7.29. Rashford has been great this season while Martial needs to be replaced asap is the general feeling I get when reading through multiple comments the past few months. This has also been without our best player in Pogba who was also our highest goalscorer and creator last season. It tells us that the best is yet to come from both Martial and Rashford.
He really needs to do more of that. Intelligently of course, no point in wasting energy or getting unnecessary injuries. He should never let a Nathan Ake dominate him in a game, even if the rest of the team is crap. He has a different style of play from someone Diego and I wouldn't expect him to be someone else but he needs to give defenders a physical cause for concern.Made more sliding tackles in the first half then he has during his whole United career until today I reckon
Was fired up from minute 1 and got rewarded with 2 goals.
It's like money. I have seen someone ignored one moment and the next he was being praised because he was on cash. It was particularly depressing to hear what Giggs and Neville had to say after a recent match - I think Everton.Martial has had some really good performances recently, and it's shocking to see how goals can change people's judgement based on the comments in this thread over the past week or so.
The best time to judge him is when we have a proper team around him. Not when he is always dropping deep to pick up the ball and initiate attacks. I agree he needs to step it up, but the entire team needs a bigger stepping up if you ask me.It is good. However I don't feel "good" is what we aspire to for our CF. In a 38 game season he will score or assist in 23 matches at that ratio which means 15 he will not make a goal Scoring contribution. That's a lot
Fair enough. As a disclaimer some of those players had off seasons for their usual but yeah it's a good ratioLast season
Mane - Goals + assists in 17 games out of 38
Salah - 22 games out of 38
Kane - 16/28 games
Aguero - 20/33 games
Lewandowski - 19/33 games
Ronaldo in 2007-08 - 22/34 games
23 games is just superb record for any player not named Ronaldo (at his peak) and Messi.
He's not doing it as much as previous seasons, I'd agree to that, but he still does it more than one wants to see.Would have agreed last season when he was going for goal even when there was player in better position to score, not this season. He takes shots from ridiculous distance and angles but not by avoiding passing to player in better position to score.
Agreed. Another thing I've really enjoyed seeing from Martial this season is how he's grown into a leadership role from the front, actively communicating and guiding the team especially in the press. And even though the team as whole needs to improve in the press, you can already see that more times than not, he knows which point and direction to press to give defenders the worst passing options. And also his movement has gone up a level, whether it be runs to free up space, make a turn at goal or find pockets to offer himself as a passing option. Like Ole said, his teammates just need to find him more, he often takes up intelligent and dangerous attacking positions but the right pass into him rarely arrives on time, especially worse when Pogba is missing.Yeah, Pereira was pretty good overall yesterday. It was just the 2 long shots he decided to take on that annoyed me.
It was great seeing Martial being so aggressive yesterday, really enjoyed it, I think he's reached full confidence again after his injury.
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Yeah, he really is looking the part, if we can start winning consistently again, he'll finally get the recognition he deserves.He's not doing it as much as previous seasons, I'd agree to that, but he still does it more than one wants to see.
Agreed. Another thing I've really enjoyed seeing from Martial this season is how he's grown into a leadership role from the front, actively communicating and guiding the team especially in the press. And even though the team as whole needs to improve in the press, you can already see that more times than not, he knows which point and direction to press to give defenders the worst passing options. And also his movement has gone up a level, whether it be runs to free up space, make a turn at goal or find pockets to offer himself as a passing option. Like Ole said, his teammates just need to find him more, he often takes up intelligent and dangerous attacking positions but the right pass into him rarely arrives on time, especially worse when Pogba is missing.
It's a damn shame we were playing again in 48 hours, he was really hungry for the hat-trick.Thought he was going to do it. Finally be the player to get us a PL hat-trick since RVP.
It irks me when people put Haaland in their starting lineup and bench Martial. His injury proved that he is one of the most important players in our squad. I feel the fact that Martial hasn't played as a striker in a long time makes people very critical about him.I was struggling to find the right word to describe Martial here on Redcafe but Klopp's helped me out.
He described how even though Firmino doesn't score much goals that he is the connector of the team.
Martial is that to us & we as a club would be stupid to let go of that in our arsenal. People may question if he is ever going to be good enough compared to so & so - but the truth is that these type of strikers aren't always available in the market; so it's best to keep them in the squad & use them for their strengths.
I think Pereira needs to know what to do before he receives the ball, because he needs to do a one touch to Martial or he needs to do a dummy or one touch to Rashford who he’s not even aware of when he receives the ball. It all happens very fast. I don’t know if Pereira will ever be able to play at the speed required to feed balls to MMM, but to be fair he hasn’t really had a good run of games in that position either. It’s tough to play that position and be expected to hit the ground running your first season in the EPL and playing along with some of the fastest forwards in the League.I think if released early enough, Martial is clean through. I don't really have any gripe with the decision Greenwood made, I just think an early release would have got Martial through on goal.
What’s even more depressing is Giggs and Neville mostly keep silent about Lingard who should be nowhere near our team. They have an agenda.It's like money. I have seen someone ignored one moment and the next he was being praised because he was on cash. It was particularly depressing to hear what Giggs and Neville had to say after a recent match - I think Everton.
Yes. And I find the constant criticism of our best performers tiresome. We spend so much time knit picking wrt Martial and Rashford when it's the creative force that needs improving first - from the fullbacks, from the central/attacking midfielders and from the right wing (James doesn't have that much output).Pogba Rashford Martial are still our most important outfield players, with Greenwood and James giving us extra spark too.
These are just statistical ratings, team balance is not considered. And neither is the position they are played in since Grealish has been playing left wing. I dont think its supposed to be a serious suggestion of what the best team would be, just a bunch of players in form in one of the positions they can possibly play not even the one where they got the ratingsA midfield of Grealish and KDB..
and people treat WhoScored like bible.
The thing is Martial is both a connector and a goal scorer, his potential as a 9 is higher than Firmino. Those saying he doesn't score enough are going off previous seasons where he was barely getting playing time in front of goal. And this season he has spent about half his time doing the midfield's job but still managed to score a good amount of goals. Give the guy a strong midfield and have him do his thing higher up the pitch, and he will produce goals and assists galore.I was struggling to find the right word to describe Martial here on Redcafe but Klopp's helped me out.
He described how even though Firmino doesn't score much goals that he is the connector of the team.
Martial is that to us & we as a club would be stupid to let go of that in our arsenal. People may question if he is ever going to be good enough compared to so & so - but the truth is that these type of strikers aren't always available in the market; so it's best to keep them in the squad & use them for their strengths.
You're downplaying Firminho here quite a bit. Martial is nowhere near the "Connector" that Firminho is.The thing is Martial is both a connector and a goal scorer, his potential as a 9 is higher than Firmino. Those saying he doesn't score enough are going off previous seasons where he was barely getting playing time in front of goal. And this season he has spent about half his time doing the midfield's job but still managed to score a good amount of goals. Give the guy a strong midfield and have him do his thing higher up the pitch, and he will produce goals and assists galore.
Goals will always be important, but so is creating chances. Martial is able to do both at a very high level, and is rarely selfish when it comes to making final decisions. He is perfect to have in the middle of two wide forwards who also score goals. Having a front three who can all score is better than only two scorers and one creator, especially when your three scores also include a creator. In that case what you need is a very good midfield that allows your front three to interplay higher up the pitch.You're downplaying Firminho here quite a bit. Martial is nowhere near the "Connector" that Firminho is.
Yes he'll probably score more goals but with wide forwards who score lots of goals that may not be the most important thing. We have Rashford and Greenwood is coming through, a striker who competes, holds the ball up and plays others in better than Martial might well be of more benefit to the team as a whole.
Name a single one that is available.You're downplaying Firminho here quite a bit. Martial is nowhere near the "Connector" that Firminho is.
Yes he'll probably score more goals but with wide forwards who score lots of goals that may not be the most important thing. We have Rashford and Greenwood is coming through, a striker who competes, holds the ball up and plays others in better than Martial might well be of more benefit to the team as a whole.
Thats not the point. The point is that for Liverpool, Firminho might be the better option than someone like Martial. And if our wide forwards Rashford and Greenwood develop well like Salah and Mane have, then you could argue that someone who sets them up more than Martial is better suited.Name a single one that is available.
Fair enough I guess? I would personally argue that Martial has the potential to be a much better player than Firmino.Thats not the point. The point is that for Liverpool, Firminho might be the better option than someone like Martial. And if our wide forwards Rashford and Greenwood develop well like Salah and Mane have, then you could argue that someone who sets them up more than Martial is better suited.
I'm not saying we should sign someone else. I'm saying that theres a good case for suggesting Firminho has the same potential as Martial as a 9
Firmino has been playing as a no.9 for years now. He interprets the position in much the same way as Martial does.Thats not the point. The point is that for Liverpool, Firminho might be the better option than someone like Martial. And if our wide forwards Rashford and Greenwood develop well like Salah and Mane have, then you could argue that someone who sets them up more than Martial is better suited.
I'm not saying we should sign someone else. I'm saying that theres a good case for suggesting Firminho has the same potential as Martial as a 9
Not only Lingard, Neville doesn't bother with Ole even after several poor games and a couple of puzzling decisions. I normally like to stay away from conspiracy theories but after Giggs criticism of Martial in a game where he tried his best to make things happen, I wondered if there is any truth to the allegations of selective criticism. Not sure if Giggs has uttered a word against his former team mate as wellWhat’s even more depressing is Giggs and Neville mostly keep silent about Lingard who should be nowhere near our team. They have an agenda.
I disagree. He's much more of a supporting member to Salah and Mane, and I think someone like Martial would see those 2 score less goals even if he himself scored more than Firminho.Firmino has been playing as a no.9 for years now. He interprets the position in much the same way as Martial does.
Nah when Pope came out the chance was gone, was the right decision to extend the play imoDecent game. Werid moment when he decided to pass to Lingard when he could have taken a shot... like Lingard is going to score a goal?
Some of our fans attitude to our few talented players is quite bizarre.Easy tiger he isn't even close.. On and off player.. but showed his best sides vs a very poor Newcastle side.. Wait for him to pull the vanishing act v Burnley.
Agreed. Pope closed him down very quickly, so he had little choice in that situation.Nah when Pope came out the chance was gone, was the right decision to extend the play imo
If Lingard had just given him back he would have curled into the top corner.Nah when Pope came out the chance was gone, was the right decision to extend the play imo
