Think the best part was Anthony Martial was “absolutely not” interested in moving to Arsenal.
Has Martial done enough to be backed as our long-term #9?
- Thread starter MyOnlySolskjaer
- Start date
He is only having a better season because Kane has been crocked and unfit - I don't think any of those observations are debatable at all if I'm honest as it is clear what Kane's strengths are in the same way it's clear what Martial's are - they are different types of strikers but Kane is capable of a lot more than just scoring lots of goals, I'm not sure Martial has the same ability Kane does. We will never agree on this of course.
Nobody outside of Manchester united would pick Martial over Kane.
He is the same player.
This. Alot of people saying Martial is a different player, but we started the season with him and he was playing similar. Him and Rashford having the same link up.
It was said so many times that with better players, Martial will look better. He was feeding of scraps most of the season. When Lingard and Perreira couldn't find the striker and Dan James was trying to put balls in the box from the touchline.
Remember the Norwich away game, Martial and Rashford looked brilliant.
Or for the first time Martial is playing in his best position and with attacking coach.
Every observation is debatable, Martial's hold up play is class, his link up play is also class, you think Kane is stronger but I see Martial bullying CBs with his strength and balance.
Martial has lot more quality than just goals, Kane has better shooting technique and insane power but in most cases, it's arguable. Martial is also way better dribbler and explosive.
If he hasnt yet he surely is now
Because they are clueless and goes with what media feeds them.
Questionable
Not a chance is he better than Martial at passing
Again not a chance Kane has better vision.
Kane does have better hold up play and a better eye for a goal. They aren’t really comparable. The way we play Martial suits us fine. He’s had a great season all things considered. out with injury. Lingard and Perreria to deal with doesn’t take our penalties so personally I wouldn’t want Kane and not because I don’t think he’s a good player he’s just not the type of player that would fit in with what we are doing. Martial is a linch pin in the attack. His better passing and vision accompanied with his explosive power and pace is doing the buisness for us. Long may it continue and next year he has over 20 goals and a butt load of assists in the league.
I couldn't disagree with this more strongly - but there is no point in discussing it because we will never agree. Kane could play as a number 10 because of his vision and passing range. I don't think Martial could.
We need some neutrals in here to judge it for us.
Not yet, but the gap between them is perhaps not as wide as you might think.
Martial has progressed this season while Kane has at best stagnated. I also think Martial is far better suited to Ole's system than Kane ever would be, which is why I can't understand the United fans advocating United making a move for him this summer.
Martial was creating more chances than Eden Hazard and people going to try and say Kane has better vision than Martial. Come away man.
Martial has a lot to prove before he should be compared to Kane. Right now it's frankly ridiculous to do it and even more ridiculous to claim Martial is better. We can talk again in a year or two about it to see if Martial becomes the player you believe he is.
No need to apologise. Because you're not being pendantic. You're just being wrong.
Kane has made more than double the amount of through balls than Martial this season and only 1 less than David Silva.
I never said Martial was better, quite the opposite, in fact.
I merely said the gap between them isn't as wide as you might think.
I was not convinced with Martial but now I am fully over blown by his quality. Glad we kept him, even I heard Glazers didnt want to sell him and vetoed Jose's demand to offload Martial.
Happy to see finally he is doing what we expected from him but I think this delay is more down to the managers we had over the years, I think he would have progressed a lot if he initially joined Arsenal under Wenger.
Anyways I am gald he is our player now.
Fair enough. Im willing to accept that.
I agree, Martial has to do it for 2/3 years consistently before we say he is that level. Kane is in peak now though and it will be interesting to see how he kicks on further under Jose.
I have my reservations on Kane under Jose.
Thank god for Woodward. Whenever he's actually stepped in and done something, it's generally been for the better.
If it was down to our fanbase we'd have swapped him for the likes of Willian and Perisic
That would have made one of the worst deals in history about 10 times worse.
I was his biggest critic. A lot of people called him lazy, and I didn't think he was lazy, I just didn't think he saw the game well and made the right runs. He was always looking for ball to feet. But he has turned that around and is turning into imo one of the best #9's in the world right now. He's doing the "Firminho" type work to benefit his wingers, but unlike the Liverpool striker, he's also putting up numbers of his own. I'd still like to see us bring in another striker at some point, but not because I don't think Martial is good enough. He's more than good enough...
Every time this thread is bumped it’s a slap in the face to me for creating this thread.
My bad everyone, my intentions were good!
My bad everyone, my intentions were good!
Be careful, Jose might be planning something similar with Alli.
Wish I could like your post, it deserves it.Football is a team game with all the different dynamics that encompass it.
One of the key dynamics is team harmony.
Straight off question,
who would you take over Ruud Van Nistelrooy vs Harry Kane ?
Yes its a trick question, however good either them was/is we all know what happened to Ruud ..........
The Anthony Martial we are seeing under Ole is perfect for our team, Ole understands what it is to be a striker and he understands what it is to be a human being.
He is getting the best out of Anthony and he is handling the team harmony perfectly.
There is absolutely no reason to bring in a striker like Harry Kane at the risk of disrupting team harmony, he is not the type of striker you would bring in.
Anthony is at the perfect age to cement himself as one of the best number 9s around, why do some want to risk disrupting this seeing that Anthony has responded perfectly to Ole ??
Id love to see his running statistics in the last 20 games.
The only reason I can see is so that there is competition for his place, which I do agree, but Harry Kane is not that person, we need a fluid striker for that but I hope we can tie down Ighalo on a permanent deal as we need a permenant backup #9 not one to replace Anthony ......
I love Martial's hold-up play. Even when he's getting no help, he can hold up until it arrives. He might be a bit too unselfish at times, where Greenwood might be slightly too selfish at times, but the dynamics of our front three, the way Ole has them operating, requires the kind of play that Martial gives us. I don't think Kane would work in that.
If Jose swaps Alli for Sanchez then I give up on football.
This is laughably untrue.
isnt it hilarious how
Only think Kane is superior in to martial is aerial ability and shooting. Those two are very important for a CF to be fair.
you must be on a serious windup to even think Kane is a better passer or has better vision. he also can’t holdup better than martial. Stop it!
Only think Kane is superior in to martial is aerial ability and shooting. Those two are very important for a CF to be fair.
When you talk like that all I can think is that you don't watch Kane play very often. His passing and vision are absolutely fantastic for a striker. His only weakness is a lack of pace - his all round game is extremely strong. For you to say he can't hold up a ball better than Martial is, I'm sorry to say, laughable.
We are 5th in the table. No player has earned the right yet to keep their place without being challenged .
I watch Kane very well and yet I still wouldn’t say he has better holdup play or better passing than martial. I never said he couldn’t hold up the ball well you just took it as an offense that I would suggest martial is simply better at it. Learn the game.
There is absolutely no way Martial is better at holding up the ball than Kane. His range of passing is far superior to Martial also. I honestly don't know why you are going so hard on these things when you are clearly wrong. If I were you I'd focus on the aspects of the game Martial is better at which is his speed and explosiveness.
I think Kane has 18 assists in 205 PL appearances for Spurs, whereas Martial has 21 assists in 143 appearances for United. Fairly similar stats, if not slightly better for Martial. I think that if you want to argue that Kane is a much better passer and has much better vision than Martial, you would therefore also have to argue that Spurs have had worse finishers over the last few years than United and also that Kane assists the assister much more so than Martial. From the biased perspective of a United fan, I wouldn't be inclined to believe that either of those two things are true, and would be more of the opinion that you can't clearly state that one of these players has been clearly better than the other in terms of creation.
https://fbref.com/en/players/21a66f6a/dom_lg/Harry-Kane-Domestic-League-Stats
https://fbref.com/en/players/8b788c01/dom_lg/Anthony-Martial-Domestic-League-Stats
Spurs fan trying to accuse people of bias when discussing Harry Kane 
Those stats aren't similar at all, you are being very kind to Kane.
How is that even remotely similar stats? Martial has 3 more assists in 62 less games.
And almost 7000 more minutes.
A winger should assist more than a striker playing up front on his own wouldn't you think?
And that's what he did. Kane has been a far more prolific goalscorer while Martial has been a far more prolific creator.
He has and is. He's a lot stronger on the ball, which has allowed him to dribble in those tight spaces more effectively that he did before, making him more of a powerful driver than simply having nimble feet in tight spaces. He's trapping the ball better and getting into good positions to hold up the ball. He is also pressing better , even though that could be a result of having another central player actively pressing ( bruno). His finishing is not necessarily better, but he is getting into spaces that allow him to take more advantage of that skill. On current form, there aren't many strikers with his skillset. If this is who he is now, there aren't many strikers better.
This is a complete contrast to the points I made earlier in the season. It's not the fact that he's scoring anymore, his contribution in every game is far more significant than what was stated before.
This is a complete contrast to the points I made earlier in the season. It's not the fact that he's scoring anymore, his contribution in every game is far more significant than what was stated before.
Was thinking that myself, whats that poster smoking