Anthony Martial image 9

Anthony Martial France flag

2020-21 Performances


View full 2020-21 profile

5.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
36
Goals
7
Assists
5
Yellow cards
1
Red cards
1
Status
Not open for further replies.

GueRed

Full Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2020
Messages
2,890
Location
London
Really good performance for a change!!

Hopefully he can hit a purple patch now...

Im not getting my hopes up though.
 

MadDogg

Full Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
15,923
Location
Manchester Utd never lose, just run out of time
Its not a should be debate. He just is. My gripe is when people actually think a 34 year old Cavani needs to be our lead striker. No! Just fix Martial.
We've tried giving Martial time to play himself into form, so now we're at the point where our best bet at 'fixing Martial' is for Cavani (or even Greenwood) to be our main striker for a while. That might help Martial one of two ways depending why he's struggling. If he's feeling the pressure and beating himself up for his poor form and struggling for confidence, being second choice for a while can take some pressure off him. Alternatively if he's struggling because of a lack of hunger or drive, then being dropped to the bench might light a fire under him and tell him he needs to kick into form if he wants to be first choice again.

Before the City game Martial had only started four of the last nine games, so the hope is that maybe one of those things had happened and he's ready to now finish the season strong.
 

rollingstoned1

Full Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2013
Messages
1,777
It's concerning how something that was never a problem with him has become one this season, not sure if it's a mental/confidence issue. I still get the feeling with a few more chances he could get where we want him to be as a reliable CF but it will mean some more anguish in the interim if we pass up the chance to not sign a star name to lead the line. Both his dribbling and finishing have been well below what I'd expect of him.
 

Bobcat

Full Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
6,385
Location
Behind the curtains, leering at the neighbors
Yeah, it would have been horrible, luckily pretty much everyone performed and we got the goals elsewhere, which means we can all enjoy his performance. I think his scoring touch will return soon, he was decent against Sociedad as well so I'm hoping this is the start of his comeback now.

On another note, I've said a number of times this season that when he's in form there are very few players around who can do what he does and I felt yesterday he demonstrated that. If this really is a return to form and he can put his poor form behind him, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't remain as our main man up top.
That’s a nice thought, but i think a lot of people are going to worry when his next slump is going to come
 
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
13,122
That’s a nice thought, but i think a lot of people are going to worry when his next slump is going to come
he played well. But he’s going to have to do it for more than one match. It’s not about wondering when his next slump will be, it’s about wondering whether this is just a one off match.
 

Guv77

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Messages
205
His 2 best games this season have come against City and Leeds Utd, both teams that play high up and allowed us to counter.
Problem is against the other low block teams he never gets involved, has he doesn't have the space to run into. This is where we need something different.
 

Godfather

Full Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Messages
29,894
Location
Austria
His 2 best games this season have come against City and Leeds Utd, both teams that play high up and allowed us to counter.
Problem is against the other low block teams he never gets involved, has he doesn't have the space to run into. This is where we need something different.
Not sure that's entirely on him. Cavani was nowhere to be seen against Palace either. That's a managerial thing. We have no plan against deep sitting sides
 

Guv77

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Messages
205
Not sure that's entirely on him. Cavani was nowhere to be seen against Palace either. That's a managerial thing. We have no plan against deep sitting sides
I wasn't blaming him, meant our team setup against these teams doesn't bring out the best in none of our attackers really. Not just Martial.
 

Raven

Full Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
6,626
Location
Ireland
That’s a nice thought, but i think a lot of people are going to worry when his next slump is going to come
Like I said, if he can put this form behind him. Agreed though, we'd have to be pretty sure he wasn't going to spend 2 thirds of the season playing like shit again.
 

Bobcat

Full Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
6,385
Location
Behind the curtains, leering at the neighbors
Like I said, if he can put this form behind him. Agreed though, we'd have to be pretty sure he wasn't going to spend 2 thirds of the season playing like shit again.
Even if he got back to his old level for the rest of the season i'd still personally be a bit sceptical. Mostly because this slump of his seems to come out of pretty much nothing. No injury and nothing in his personal life as far as i am aware of

Honestly i am as fickle as any other fan and if he really kicks on from now on, i probably will have forgotten all about it when next season rolls on
 

Raven

Full Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
6,626
Location
Ireland
Even if he got back to his old level for the rest of the season i'd still personally be a bit sceptical. Mostly because this slump of his seems to come out of pretty much nothing. No injury and nothing in his personal life as far as i am aware of

Honestly i am as fickle as any other fan and if he really kicks on from now on, i probably will have forgotten all about it when next season rolls on
It's difficult to say why his form nosedived really, all we can say for certain is that these last 12 months have been the strangest in my life time and the lockdown is effecting people in different ways. So if he turns his form around properly and we don't see something like this again from him, I'm happy to just leave it in the past and move on.
 

Glorio

Full Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
4,549
Thought the City game was a turning point...apparently not.

Hes not fecking moving. Ever. Not pressing when they have the ball and just strolling around when we have the ball.
I thought he did ok when he had the ball - which as almost never as the midfield couldn't string 2 passes together
 

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
He looked more interested in getting a pen in this half than actually playing, for some reason.
 

elmo

Can never have too many Eevees
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
Messages
13,337
Location
AKA: Slapanut Goat Smuggla
He actually looked interested in this game, shame he was taken off as he would probably have done something in the second half to get a goal/assist with how he was playing.
 

Bwuk

Full Member
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
17,328
Too many games where he just doesn’t seem to fancy it. Should of looked to build on his performance v City but was poor.
 

Raven

Full Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
6,626
Location
Ireland
Ole says he took a whack on the hip, says he's getting a scan, might be alright. We really are down to bare bones without him and I fancy a front line of James, Greenwood and Amad to be gobbled up by West Ham.
 

Raven

Full Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
6,626
Location
Ireland

What a crap season he is having.
Yeah, super frustrating. I felt his form was on a slight up tick over the last couple of games then he gets injured right when we could use him most.
 

arthurka

Full Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2010
Messages
18,716
Location
Rectum
Who gives a shit he is absolutely useless Greenwood will get the nod and hope Rashy gets fighting fit quickly.
 
Last edited:

Born2Lose

Full Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2015
Messages
2,540
Bin him in the summer, that's if anyone else is stupid enough to pay him £250k a week.

A goal every 5 games, pathetic.
 

Raven

Full Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
6,626
Location
Ireland
Who gives a shit he is absolutely useless Greenwood will get the nod and hope Rashy gets fighting for quickly
Greenwood isn't capable of playing up top. It's Martial or Cavani or we're in for even bigger problems.
 

el3mel

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
43,735
Location
Egypt
While his performance hasn't been great, if him, Rashford and Cavani are all out now, we are in for a trouble.
 

Bebestation

Im a doctor btw, my IQ destroys yours
Joined
Oct 9, 2019
Messages
11,862
Seems weird he gets hate yesterday.

He was arguably the only attacker trying to do something in the first half.

Nothing was created by anyone else and nothing was done by anyone else.
 

arthurka

Full Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2010
Messages
18,716
Location
Rectum
Greenwood isn't capable of playing up top. It's Martial or Cavani or we're in for even bigger problems.
Well both are injured.. Greenwood played up on top all through his youth career. That is his preferred position.
 

Raven

Full Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
6,626
Location
Ireland
Well both are injured.. Greenwood played up on top all through his youth career. That is his preferred position.
I'm fully aware of where he played in the youth set up, which was mainly as a striker but also as a 10 and a right winger. The point I was making is that he's not capable of playing as a striker at the moment, maybe I should have made that more clear. He's too weak and doesn't do much with the ball (although Martial hasn't been much better at this aspect most of the season).
 

OL29

Full Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
3,601
Location
Manchester
Seems weird he gets hate yesterday.

He was arguably the only attacker trying to do something in the first half.

Nothing was created by anyone else and nothing was done by anyone else.
When people start criticising a player for having the temerity to get injured, you know the agenda posters have arrived.
 

Raven

Full Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
6,626
Location
Ireland
Pretty certain he isn't on 250k
It's another one of these myths bandied around as fact. I'm quite certain that most of our players currently have lots of performance bonus' on their contracts, so 250k may well be the most he can earn but probably hasn't done so since last season.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.