Rashford made 44 appearances with 32 G/A (I don't know how many of those were penalties) but I still wouldn't put him on Bruno's level that season as we weren't convincingly winning games up until his arrival in January. I guess a lot of it hinges on the stats vs eye test debate - we were scoring goals but we were also limping through most games in the first half of that season. Fair enough if you rated Martial highly back then, however I rarely got the feeling of "feck me, Martial is our standout performer here" during most games that season in the same way I did about Bruno.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 19
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 0
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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?
I find that people often remember that season very weirdly, or only the second half of the season. The first half of the season was horrendous for the most part. The club was absolutely toxic for a long time and we were 7th place in February. Bruno turned things around almost on his own although Martial was probably our second best performer.
Edit- just checked, we didn't lose another league game that whole season after Bruno arrived .
Same. That 2-0 loss vs Burnley in January was a low point in the season where it felt like we were going nowhere. Then a week later we signed Bruno and we went unbeaten for the rest of the season. His impact and overall contribution to our play made him my PoS easily.
That's no knock on Martial though. I loved some of his performances during lockdown once the team started ticking.
The first half of that season wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. Martial was still instrumental in holding up our attack. We played a lot of counter attacking football and he was a big reason why it was effective since he could actually hold onto the ball and use it smartly the few times we got it. He was key for us winning against City sometime in November or December, and that was a huge result that lifted the entire team as we headed into the second half of the season. By the time Bruno came, the team was already on the up confidence wise and he was a huge boost for sure, but certainly wasn't the standout performer in its entirety. It was our deadly attacking unit that had been picking up steam the whole season that Bruno helped to catch fire, the narrative of him picking up a team dead in the water is simply false.
Martial is the one striker we've had post SAF that was actually conducive to either counter attacking or possession football, he had it all in his locker: hold up, technique and goals. I will certainly miss him a lot.
Rashford was brilliant that year too but only before the back injury. Post back injury he was much more reserved. Decent production but not nearly the same player.
I implore you to go back and watch those Martial performances that season. He still had the pace and dribbling to his game but was deadly in front of goal as well. Of course we started winning more post Bruno transfer as the entire team began playing better, Pogba and Matic started to click behind him, and Greenwood emerged on that RW right before lockdown.
Talent can only take you so far, pretty disappointed with how things ended up.
Good luck to him wherever he goes.
Good luck to him wherever he goes.
Disappointed overall but man when he was good it was electric. Not sure where he ends up now as it seems his body can't handle much.
It should have been different
It should have been different
Such a shame, he was incredible that first season, I genuinely thought we had signed a potential Ballon D'or level player but injuries, lack of application and the managerial merry-go-round we've been on for a few years have really hampered his progress.
Goodnight sweet Prince 
Martial FC for life
Martial FC for life
Is it his body or his mind? I do wonder.
Do you think he imagined tearing his knee ligaments or imagined having a groin surgery?
No? But I don't think it's unreasonable to think his head's not been right for a long time. Even when he's been fit and played he's largely been shit for years.
Martial will always have a warm place in my heart. That debut goal was for eternity and his talent undeniable. Everything else I will forget. Wish him good luck and let's hope he finds a good club.
Cheers Tony. Cracking debut season and some great moments and runs of form but dearie me the injuries.
Won't be missed. Incredibly promising couple of seasons and then went backwards. Injuries ravaged him but nobody will ever convince me that he had the mentality to really make it here. When the chips were down he was almost always nowhere to be seen.
I wonder why the club is hesitating with a statement about his future in the club. It should by now be a big surprise for everyone if they extend his contract. Come out with the statement. Release him. So he can get a proper thanks and everyone can move on!
It was absolutely terrible at times. Ole could have easily been sacked at one point but two battling wins against Spurs and City massively helped but before that we were 9th in the table at the beginning of December and our football was often dreadful, occasionally it sparked into life as a counter attacking team but we struggled a lot.
It's funny you should mention that the team was 'on the up confidence wise' before Bruno arrived because, as another posted also remembers, the atmosphere in the game before we signed Bruno was easily the worst i've ever seen at Old Trafford. We lost 2-0 at home to Burnley and I have never seen at OT that aggressive or hostile. It was poisonous.
I think people have strange recollections of that first season under Ole, shaped massively by our end of season form which saw us squeeze into top 4 in the last two games of the season.
I'd say both Rashford and Bruno reached higher highs that season, but Martial was our best over the course of the entire season. He was never far behind either of them, and indeed Rashford didn't have his great period (the best of his entire career) until directly after Martial returned from injury in late October to take the pressure off him. Hell, in the month and a half that Martial was injured for we only won one league game.
There's an argument for all three, but for me Martial's consistency over the season gives him the edge.
Our attack was keeping us in many matches. Yes, the football was mainly counter attack, not pretty as we conceded possession a lot, but it was largely bringing results and we didn't lose that many games by December. Unless you were in United's boardroom, saying Ole could have easily been sacked is pointless.
I'm not saying I have perfect memory to remember that season week by week, but I still have a good feel for it mainly because of our deadly attack on the counter and how it felt we were never really out of any game. We had some memorable wins before the turn of year against City, Newcastle and Burnley away so all the good were certainly not in the second half of it. Some people have chosen to go with the narrative of Bruno turning that season around simply because it's more dramatic or whatever, it raises his individualistic/hero aura I guess. It doesn't mean it's true though.
Maybe he's fecked the club around behind the scenes, which I read in one of the fanzines a couple of months ago. In which case, they probably don't see it as a heroes exit
Well we lost 3 out of 4 league games in January and got absolutely smashed 3-1 vs Man city at home in the league cup where the score could have been a lot more for them (we did win the return leg 1-0 but it was over as a tie really). Bruno came in and we don't lose a single game for the rest of the season. Make of that what you will but overall that was not a good season before he came in and to be fair, it wasn't a great season at all anyway really.
I think it would be best for everyone is involved if the club releases the statement after the FA Cup final. Surely there can't be any consideration of keeping Martial, right?
We won 34 points out of possible 72 in 24 PL games before Bruno's debut. Then won 32 points out of possible 42 in remaining 14 with him. I loved Martial that season and he would've been POTY but Bruno's influence was so big that in one third of a season he got us finishing 3rd (true - with Leicester City in terrible form 2nd part of the season). He's possibly our best ever January signing and not only our but in general.
Waste of talent
Must be something in the french water.
I don't think this headline turned out true as it wasn't going bad until 20/21. But it wasn't a success in the end either.
Martial missed a number of games in the first half of the season. Bruno joining, Matic and Pogba coming back from injury (both missed most of the first half), Greenwood emerging all contributed to a better second half of the season.
We were 'poor' in the first half because we were relying on the likes of Williams, Pereira, James, Lingard and McTominay every week. And we were still one of the better sides in the league.
Martial has been involved in most of our best football over the last few seasons. We've missed him this season for sure.
Is he injured?
Same for me
Nice way to put it. It’s sad when someone so talented doesn’t quite live up to expectations, but there were moments to cherish.
Always brah.
I like him. But apart from that debut goal… £60m down the drain.
Wow. So many followers and fanboys for a player that has been such a disappointment. 9 years, 2-3 good seasons max? Our fanbase 
. Somebody said, “at times he was electric”, like what? Like how many times? Electric is a player like Vini junior, electric is Mbappe. What happened to us as a fanbase? When did we start worshipping sulky players like him who has no interest in taking pride in playing for Manchester United and giving his all for this badge?
. Somebody said, “at times he was electric”, like what? Like how many times? Electric is a player like Vini junior, electric is Mbappe. What happened to us as a fanbase? When did we start worshipping sulky players like him who has no interest in taking pride in playing for Manchester United and giving his all for this badge?Gonna feel weird next season without some of these players. Feels like they’ve been here forever. Onto better things. Martial under LVG were different levels though.
Pogba and Martial were out for large swathes of the first half. If you remember that squad, it meant that all creativity had to come from Mata and Lingard, and all goals had to come through Rashford... what followed was predictable.
Football and results were better when Martial came in to share the goalscoring and creative work. Improved a bit more with Bruno. Turned around fully once Pogba was back and Greenwood, Martial and Rashford were all in form (which happened in lockdown, which is what people remember).
The reason I remember it is because ending a season by scoring for fun with a young front-line was one of the most optimistic ends to a season in the last 10 years.
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For a moment when Rashford Martial and Greenwood were scoring for fun, I believed we were set for the better part of a decade. Sigh....
I'm not knocking Martial. I've defended Hojlund for most of the season but if you asked me who was the more naturally talented and gifted player if you compared their two debut seasons, it's so obviously Martial, It's just not a contest (and again, I like Hojlund).
But put simply there's not a chance we get top 4 without Bruno arriving that season. And i dread to think how that season would have turned out had we spent 30 million on Longstaff in the summer and had no money to buy Bruno in January
. Thank god Newcastle played hardball with that one.Talent wasted. I hope he doesn't write a book and blame everything on everyone else for mismanaging him.
There was a dip in form in January for sure, but before that in the first half of the season it had been stop start but not terrible, and a large part due to Martial always ensuring our attack was deadly and efficient for the few attacking opportunities we got. That was my main point. I certainly remember having a good feeling for multiple times in that first half of the season.
Some of the games I've mentioned such as the win at Burnley at years end was good. Also, some of wins in Europa. Many of them were due to our attack pulling rabbits out of hats consistently. Bruno was a boost, but definitely not the only reason for the little shining lights in that season.
It turned from lazy elegance to just plain lazy. Shame he couldn't be bothered otherwise he would have made an excellent player with the natural skills he possesses. Lucky he was at Manchester United during the Woody era to earn top bucks for 9 seasons. Or he would be scrapping in the 3rd division somewhere by now.