Martial is our most important player

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Yorkeontop

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His body language suggests he is in a depressed mood permanently. He puts me off my hard earned beer. Makes me want to ball my eyes out. But as you say the stats don't lie. He is vital to the team. I'd pay him a bonus out of my own wallet to cheer up a bit on camera.
I've managed to decipher him beyond that permanent state of his I'd like to think.
 

Jim Beam

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Rashford looks much better too with him or playing off him, so it gives a different dimension to our attack. He is also clearly a number 9, we wasted quite some time playing him on the wing.
 

lumeyes

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I have to say, I think this perception of him is a bit of a myth, in the training pictures he’s always jovial, I just think his face at rest is expressionless.
I'll agree with snuffkin here. Maybe it's his personality but he needs to learn how to keep his spirit - and I dare say face :) - up even when things are not working for him. His body language can be depressing at times.
 

11101

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Came on here to post about this. Not convinced hes the generational talent we first thought, but it makes such a difference having a technical, quick all round striker at the front for us.
 

Art Vandelay

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Martial has generally played when few of our other players are injured. So its not surprising that his win percentage is so high, because the only times hes been available virtually everyone else (bar Pogba) is also available
Sshhh don't bring actual context into this.

It's still a position we need to upgrade in. He can't be relied on to stay fit or in form when he is fit. He's fine when it clicks, but I don't feel comfortable relying on him.
 

Ekeke

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Sshhh don't bring actual context into this.

It's still a position we need to upgrade in. He can't be relied on to stay fit or in form when he is fit. He's fine when it clicks, but I don't feel comfortable relying on him.
For sure we do, at the very least we need cover for if he gets injured again and Rashford is out of form. Greenwood isnt ready yet to be relied on
 

Withnail

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I'll agree with snuffkin here. Maybe it's his personality but he needs to learn how to keep his spirit - and I dare say face :) - up even when things are not working for him. His body language can be depressing at times.
No he bleedin doesn't. All he needs to do is keep banging the ball in the net at the same rate he has been for the last two seasons.

He's been scoring a goal for the equivalent of every game and a half worth of minutes he's been on the pitch since the season before last while never getting a consistent run in the team.

Judging his performance or ability on his body language is ridiculous.
 

OverratedOpinion

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I think having two genuine attacking threats rather than one is a major difference.

Pogba is our most important player.
 

Handré1990

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No, I wasn't joking - which I literally only just realised makes me an absolute fecking moron :lol:

I was reading it as though it was supposed to add up to 100% - like if Martial missed 71% of matches, he must have appeared in 29% of them.

I probably shouldn't be allowed internet access.
Hah! It happens to the best of us:lol::keano:
 

Amadaeus

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Him and Greenwood will stop us from buying Håland. :( Always had faith in Martial though. I don’t think he is our most important. Pogba is my pick. Best midfielder in the world on his day.
 

VeevaVee

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Today was one of my favourite performances of his. He looked properly lively.

Still eating good buddy :drool: Martial FC is the sect of United fans that I've been happiest to be part of.
I still can't believe people don't realise it's because they (you?) were so incredibly annoying and jumped down the throats of anyone that criticised a performance. It wasn't just people that like him.
 

mariachi-19

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Whats most impressive isn't so much his ability to hold up play or bring others in, when he plays through the middle the amount of space he has around him is ridiculous. Its like watching a player who has complete comand of the area and defenders and midfielders alike just have no idea what to do. His dribbling is so good that if they lunge he can move the ball away from them withpace and movement, but if they dont close him down then he has time to do what ever he wants.

I've not seen a forward player like that for us since RVP and Rooney before him.

The best tactic we could play is have Pogba play a left focused attacking midfielder to provide options across the park.
 

Gasolin

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Him and Greenwood will stop us from buying Håland. :( Always had faith in Martial though. I don’t think he is our most important. Pogba is my pick. Best midfielder in the world on his day.
I’m sure we play with more than just 4 forwards. Let’s see what happens.
 

Majima

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Whats most impressive isn't so much his ability to hold up play or bring others in, when he plays through the middle the amount of space he has around him is ridiculous. Its like watching a player who has complete comand of the area and defenders and midfielders alike just have no idea what to do. His dribbling is so good that if they lunge he can move the ball away from them withpace and movement, but if they dont close him down then he has time to do what ever he wants.

I've not seen a forward player like that for us since RVP and Rooney before him.

The best tactic we could play is have Pogba play a left focused attacking midfielder to provide options across the park.
Pogba being played on the left attacking mid, linking up with the LW and threatening the cross-field pass to James if defenders try to double up again is our best way of attacking.

We used to get so much joy down the left hand side. It's a bit weird that we haven't seen this tactic used, especially as we now have James.

A 4-3-3 / 4-2-2-2 hybrid would work well i think.

This:

De Gea

AWB - Lindelof - Maguire - Shaw

McTominay
Fred -------------- Pogba

James ------------------------------- Rashford
Martial
Or this:

De Gea

AWB - Lindelof - Maguire - Shaw

McTominay - Fred

James --------------- Pogba

Martial - Rashford​
 

Cloud7

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Today was one of my favourite performances of his. He looked properly lively.



I still can't believe people don't realise it's because they (you?) were so incredibly annoying and jumped down the throats of anyone that criticised a performance. It wasn't just people that like him.
No one was mismanaged under Jose more than Martial. He was constantly dropped and criticized by the manager, then attacked by our fans anytime he had a game where he wasn't setting the world on fire, despite the fact that everytime he played himself into some good form, Jose would drop him.
 

VeevaVee

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No one was mismanaged under Jose more than Martial. He was constantly dropped and criticized by the manager, then attacked by our fans anytime he had a game where he wasn't setting the world on fire, despite the fact that everytime he played himself into some good form, Jose would drop him.
He wasn't attacked. It was commented on then those people were attacked, hence those who couldn't handle any criticism without being aggressive and massively annoying were nicknamed.
Also because even when he wasn't playing well, whether it was because of the manager or otherwise, certain people were adamant he should play and that it was an absolute travesty if he didn't.
 

El Jefe

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I always thought he was a No.9. In his first season he reminded me a lot of Suarez in the way he used his dribbling and close control in extremely tight areas. Most importantly his control is very good when the ball is played into him (unlike Lukaku) and has the strength to hold off centre backs unlike Rashford.

His biggest flaws of his game up front were his movement and variation of finishes but those come easily with more games played.
 

meamth

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His link up play is the best in the team.

Those little passes, one twos, is just magic.

Without him we can't play like that.
 

croadyman

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His link up play is the best in the team.

Those little passes, one twos, is just magic.

Without him we can't play like that.
Yeah his link up play was on point today but can't deny I am not worried about what influence he will provide in a situation where we are facing a team that just sit in such as Brighton and Sheff Utd will do when we face them in the coming weeks.
 

redshaw

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I always remember the header on the edge of the box in Europe for us a few years ago playing as a striker. Very good strikers goal but has never really been trusted in the role.
 

Strelok

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No one was mismanaged under Jose more than Martial. He was constantly dropped and criticized by the manager, then attacked by our fans anytime he had a game where he wasn't setting the world on fire, despite the fact that everytime he played himself into some good form, Jose would drop him.
I still remember he was flying and score/assist basically every games he played in December 2017. Then we got Sanchez and he's benched immediately. What's worse was when Sanchez form was so bad he's still benched and Sanchez was still playing.

Not to mention he was stripped of his number 9 when Ibra came. Jose didn't even bother to ask him for that. Then Lukaku came and the number was given straight to Lukaku.

What a way to treat your player, no respect at all.
 
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RedViv

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I loved the way he was asking players to press from the front rather than gesticulating like that big lump up front from last season.
 

Bebestation

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Him and Greenwood will stop us from buying Håland. :( Always had faith in Martial though. I don’t think he is our most important. Pogba is my pick. Best midfielder in the world on his day.
I don't think this has to be true.

We have 3 forwards out of 4 that are right footed playing on the left. We need a left footed attacker playing on the right.

Haaland is very fast & I personally think we need to stop using our forwards as wingers and use them as CF's that drift wide on the counter.

A bit like this:

Rashford/ James - Haaland/Greenwood
Martial/Gomes

Martial or Gomes play as a False 9 and the front 2 play as wide as possible CF's but not wingers. Let Martial or Gomes do the interlinking of the front 2 while they focus on finding the space in the channels in behind the defenders whilst playing off each other.
 

SteveW

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Ole has pulled off a masterstroke by placing his faith in him as the main striker. You can see how much it's meant to him and he has responded beautifully.

Such a shame he missed those 2 months. We'd have been much better off by now.
 

Hawks2008

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Yeah he's the best striker at the club. Can hold up the ball and link the play, as well as the ability to beat a man and score. So many have pitted Martial and Rashford against each other for some reason but the reality is that they are better together.

My only worry is that he is more a scorer of great goals than a great goalscorer. We don't have enough goals or creativity so we need Martial and also Rashford to become prolific.
 

Will Singh

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It's been up and down with him but if he's fit he's got to play as he's one of those who can do one piece of brilliance and we have a goal. I think he's settlement here being young and already a wife and kid has had an impact and it's not helped playing under 3 different managers who have had different opinions of him and plus that saga with he's brand and shirt number. He's by far our best attacking player even on an average day.
 

tjb

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He is important to us at the moment because he hold up the ball in attack which allows the other attackers to come into the game since they play wide, but all this means for me is that we need an attacker that is multifaceted. It demonstrates how important a player who can keep the ball up front is important to this ole team, we need to sign a striker that can hold up the ball. Martial may be that guy for us, who knows. But his injury record at least suggests that we need a capable back up.
 

jackal&hyde

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He is vital for our attack as Pogba is for our ability to find good passes from mid and as Maguire is for our defensive stability. We have a bit of a spine forming here.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Thought he was poor. Appreciate he's not match fit but just thought his overall game wasn't great. Hope and expect it to get better but poor today
I’m not sure what’s your expectation from a player being not poor. Chasing defenders?

Martial did something that our other forwards couldn’t do. Control & hold the ball while defenders behind his back & bring others into play. It’s crucial today because we’re able to keep our attacking flow alive without losing the ball. Rashford’s goal was also came from that.
 

Le Red

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Stats don't lie.
Do you really believe this or was it just a jest?
Martial is far from the sole factor behind our few really good performances under Ole.
Still, I do think his presence in the team is a great thing, because goals come naturally to him, and you can't say that about anyone else in the team.
 

Le Red

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Should give credit to Ole too.

Many managers saw Rashford as the CF and Martial as the LW. Now their roles have reversed and we're starting to see much better performances.
To be fair I still think Rashford had the tools to be a lethal central striker, but perhaps he should mature his game from the wings first.
I don't always compliment Arsene Wenger but the way he worked with Henry and RVP as wingers and eased them into becoming top strikers was brilliant.
 

ManuMou

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No one was mismanaged under Jose more than Martial. He was constantly dropped and criticized by the manager, then attacked by our fans anytime he had a game where he wasn't setting the world on fire, despite the fact that everytime he played himself into some good form, Jose would drop him.
This. Additionally, I remember Martial was on form and Jose did a big, big mistake by bringing in Sanchez and made Sanchez a drop-in replacement for Martial. That decision was ridiculous.
 

Freak

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His linkup play with Rashford is very nice. In fact, their linkup play with Shaw and Pogba was also very good during Ole's early days. We really need to get Shaw and Pogba back to fitness and go back to that way of playing again (overloading the left side); and we can now do that on our right side as well with James, Wan Bissaka as well compared to our non-existent right side during those days.
 
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