Martial is our most important player

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MalcolmTucker

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Let's summarise Martial's season up statistically:
14 goals and 5 assists in roughly 2200 minutes this season.

- Same number of non penalty goals (13) and assists (5) as Rashford this season, having played 100 mins less than Marcus.
- Same number of combined Goals and Assists (19) this season as Harry Kane, having played exactly the same number of minutes.
- More combined G+A than Aubameyang and Griezmann who are on 18 and 17 respectively for the season (having played less minutes than both).
- 4 more goals than Firmino in all competitions.
- One goal fewer than Tammy Abraham (15) in all competitions, having played 200 mins less than the Chelsea striker.

He's by no means flawless, but a player that can put up numbers like that playing for possibly the most disjointed United side in recent history should be appreciated, and you really wonder what kind of numbers he'd have put up if he had the chance to play with likes of Pogba, Rash and Bruno more than he has been able to so far this season. He's a super talent and he's getting more confident as a goalscorer. If we were a rational fanbase, it would be commonly accepted that he's literally almost the least of our worries.

If he's not our most important player, he's very clearly up there. Our worst run of form this season remains the period in September-October when he was injured. Him and Rashford carry us offensively.
Very good breakdown.

He's not perfect, but he is certainly not a problem either and he deserves a chance to make the number 9 spot his own. So far this season he's done decent individually and I'd be happy seeing him as our first team #9 next season when hopefully our injuries are settled and we have some reinforcements come in.
 

Fosu-Mens

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Very good breakdown.

He's not perfect, but he is certainly not a problem either and he deserves a chance to make the number 9 spot his own. So far this season he's done decent individually and I'd be happy seeing him as our first team #9 next season when hopefully our injuries are settled and we have some reinforcements come in.
I think he would do well under Pochettino. The same could be said about Rashford.
 

Shaw Mee Tah Mané

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Martial is a player with great strengths and great weaknesses. He have the physics, ball control and actually most of footballing skills. But his weaknesses is all about the head: instinct, composure, concentration and work rate.

It’s good it’s not the other way around at least. The manager that get his head together will manage a great footballer.
Few examples of lack of instinct this game, but THAT composure! :O
 

Damien

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Few examples of lack of instinct this game, but THAT composure! :O
Personally I wouldn't have said composure is one of his weaknesses. I agree with what KennyBurner said at the end of this post
There was this consensus last season which declared he isn't intelligent. I remember reading somewhere on here posters trying to insinuate he was "slow". The fact that he likes to keep to himself didnt help with this perception of him. I even remember a twitter post making up stories of how his lyon youth coaches said he was slow. Complete bullshit.

Martial is probably one of the most intelligent players in our squad. If not for his selflessness and one-twos we wouldn't have more than 1 shot on target. Brighton are not the best team but even they had some control of the game yesterday. If not for martial and Fred(who was fantastic yesterday) we wouldnt have had any consolation for Brighton naivety in defense. It helps when you have a forward who makes the best DECISIONS 9/10 times for the benefit of the team. Even at times when martial is in a good position to shoot he still creates the time, composure and intelligence to assess whether passing to a teammate results in a goal other than shooting.
 

SinNombre

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Martial could be upgraded on but he is still amongst the top quartile of our players and there are many others that need replacing.

In a fully functional United, Martial would comfortably get around 20 goals over all competitions a season despite being the 3rd or 4th best attacker in the team.

We need Greenwood to develop into a peak RvP (30 goals a season) and add a Sancho and both Martial and Rashford would comfortably be part of a world class attacking quartet (of which 3 play at any time).
 

Greck

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As with Rashford one has to take the bad with the good and accept even most talented strikers won't check every box. We should be way past the point of doubting if they have a place in the team
 

SinNombre

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Personally I wouldn't have said composure is one of his weaknesses. I agree with what KennyBurner said at the end of this post
I think composure is one of his strengths.

Always raise my eyebrows a bit when a foreign black player is called slow or thick.
 

SinNombre

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As with Rashford one has to take the bad with the good and accept even most talented strikers won't check every box. We should be way past the point of doubting if they have a place in the team
Both Marcus and Martial are your 3rd attacker in a world class team. Maybe a bit harsh on Marcus who is still only 22 and could develop into the next tier.

We don't need to replace them but we do need a RvP calibre player (or ideally an ATG like Ronaldo but we have only had 3 of those in our entire history).
 
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cyril C

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I think Martial's performance against Watford was a good summary. Remember a great build up inside the box, a cross inside the box right across the goal line, where was martial? He was well behind near the spot. A simple tap in would have scored, in fact it could be saved as well, but the fact that his instinct was not rushing towards the goal, but staying where he was, meant Martial is never a #9. He just never think like a traditional goal predator. Then he makes up for it with the slick goal.
 

Thepinhead

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I think he would do well under Pochettino. The same could be said about Rashford.
I think he is doing well under Ole. He is having his best season with 150 minutes per goal. In his first season where he scored 17 he averaged a goal every 220 minute.
 

TRUERED89

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I think he is doing well under Ole. He is having his best season with 150 minutes per goal. In his first season where he scored 17 he averaged a goal every 220 minute.
Surprise surprise, Bruno comes in and he’s scoring goals again. It’s no coincidence the same thing was happening when Rashford was still playing. He deserves more credit having scored all those goals (also missed 2/3 months) playing in front of Andreas and JLingz all season. He’ll need to be sold again apparently if he goes 1 game without a goal by the flip flop brigade...
 

Black.Ghost

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That goal yesterday was utter filth, and was Cantona-esque for me.I think the best way is having Martial and Rashford playing together, and let them just interchange, with Sancho on the right and have a more traditional 9 than both of them as an off the bench option if we need one for some games. We don't have the out and out 9, so find a different way of playing. We don't need it to be a 9 getting into the area, anyone can get in there and take a chance. I'd also be tempted to play two up front until the end of the season, with Martial in a free role on the left & Ighalo as your 9. Give Ighalo a run of games and he'll get those goals for us.
 

TRUERED89

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What's everyone's opinion atm then? Me personally, I've loved Tony ever since his debut against the dippers! Does that cloud my judgment a bit ? maybe, but he's fecking quality..
 
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Msuker

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For three to five minutes in a game, Martial plays like Thiery Henry in his prime. Then for the other 85 minutes he's a more lethargic Danny Welbeck.

But I am still a big fan of Martial. He will be world class if he can extend that to even 20 or 30 minutes in every other game. Welbeck, homegrown as he is, never had those five minutes in his career, let alone a match.
 

keener

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I think Martial needs to be one of our options at the top with a few more added to the squad for quality and depth. He is frankly quite bad at passing, rarely hitting the ball with proper pace to put us on the attack and rarely seeing the proper pass. He's good at running at defenders and pretty clinical in front of goal to be fair.

Ultimately, to see us at the highest levels, i think our front line is lead by a different striker with Rashford and Martial on wings, Or Rashford and James on the wings (along with Sancho or other reinforcement for the Rt wing) flanking a proper striker. Ighalo should compete with someone like a Kane, Lewendowski, Cavani type for the tip of the spear.

I see Martial playing best from the Left, same as Marcus. So Possibly try Marcus on the right OR have them compete and share minutes on the left. Securing a top class Rt and Center Forward are priorities this offseason IMO.
 

gerdm07

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I think Martial needs to be one of our options at the top with a few more added to the squad for quality and depth. He is frankly quite bad at passing, rarely hitting the ball with proper pace to put us on the attack and rarely seeing the proper pass. He's good at running at defenders and pretty clinical in front of goal to be fair.

Ultimately, to see us at the highest levels, i think our front line is lead by a different striker with Rashford and Martial on wings, Or Rashford and James on the wings (along with Sancho or other reinforcement for the Rt wing) flanking a proper striker. Ighalo should compete with someone like a Kane, Lewendowski, Cavani type for the tip of the spear.

I see Martial playing best from the Left, same as Marcus. So Possibly try Marcus on the right OR have them compete and share minutes on the left. Securing a top class Rt and Center Forward are priorities this offseason IMO.
I totally agree. He makes too many unforced mental and technical errors to be our first choice striker to lead us to the top again. He may change my mind but I doubt it.

That none pass to Bruno was a good example. The shot was from a bad angle and a defender was blocking part of the goal. 9 out of 10 good strikers make the easy pass and Bruno scores 80% of the time.
 

Gasolin

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I totally agree. He makes too many unforced mental and technical errors to be our first choice striker to lead us to the top again. He may change my mind but I doubt it.

That none pass to Bruno was a good example. The shot was from a bad angle and a defender was blocking part of the goal. 9 out of 10 good strikers make the easy pass and Bruno scores 80% of the time.
That pass stuff was only because in our team, no one was coming to help him until now. Rest assured Ole has seen it and is going to have a discussion with the 3 of them. Next game, they will also consider Bruno.
 

GailSpaceWynand

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He was brilliant against City. Proper hold up play and worked the high press well. He has been quietly one of our most influential players.

Numbers this season speaks for itself. Hope it continues.
 

pacifictheme

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He was brilliant against City. Proper hold up play and worked the high press well. He has been quietly one of our most influential players.

Numbers this season speaks for itself. Hope it continues.
Quietly influential or silently dominant?
 

gerdm07

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That pass stuff was only because in our team, no one was coming to help him until now. Rest assured Ole has seen it and is going to have a discussion with the 3 of them. Next game, they will also consider Bruno.
He has missed a lot of passes to open players over the years. I hope you are right that Bruno will change that mindset and Martial improves.....and James.
 

TRUERED89

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So would I, the knee-jerk on here after one game is embarrassing.
After one game ? This thread is months old now. And we’ve been debating all season how good/bad he is so hardly a bloody knee jerk. 16 goals, 5 assists in a team that was lost prior to Bruno and the injury of Rashford. Not to mention Martial being out for several months himself, and he still has those numbers; its fantastic, which he deserves so much credit for.
 

Santoryo

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For three to five minutes in a game, Martial plays like Thiery Henry in his prime. Then for the other 85 minutes he's a more lethargic Danny Welbeck.

But I am still a big fan of Martial. He will be world class if he can extend that to even 20 or 30 minutes in every other game. Welbeck, homegrown as he is, never had those five minutes in his career, let alone a match.
Post like these are the sort of nonsense and myth perpetrated on these boards and some people take them as facts. This bullshit about Martial doing nothing in games then only does 1 brilliant thing as summing up his game is blatantly not true and some of you ought to stop spreading such blatant lies or repeat nonsense heard somewhere else.

This place is ridiculous at times because of posts like this one quoted.

I think Martial needs to be one of our options at the top with a few more added to the squad for quality and depth. He is frankly quite bad at passing, rarely hitting the ball with proper pace to put us on the attack and rarely seeing the proper pass. He's good at running at defenders and pretty clinical in front of goal to be fair.

Ultimately, to see us at the highest levels, i think our front line is lead by a different striker with Rashford and Martial on wings, Or Rashford and James on the wings (along with Sancho or other reinforcement for the Rt wing) flanking a proper striker. Ighalo should compete with someone like a Kane, Lewendowski, Cavani type for the tip of the spear.

I see Martial playing best from the Left, same as Marcus. So Possibly try Marcus on the right OR have them compete and share minutes on the left. Securing a top class Rt and Center Forward are priorities this offseason IMO.
How many misplaced passes has Bruno made since coming here? Would you call him a bad passer. Players misplace passes here and there but it doesn't suddenly means they can't make proper passes at all. Martial isn't some horrible passer, that's obviously not true.
 

Gandalf Greyhame

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For three to five minutes in a game, Martial plays like Thiery Henry in his prime. Then for the other 85 minutes he's a more lethargic Danny Welbeck.

But I am still a big fan of Martial. He will be world class if he can extend that to even 20 or 30 minutes in every other game. Welbeck, homegrown as he is, never had those five minutes in his career, let alone a match.
Funny, I thought he was very good with his press against City throughout the game and was linking up well with teammates, especially Bruno. Made more effort to get into the box as well, and he knew he was going to hurt himself when he threw himself at the Ederson blunder. Everything Ole wants from his center forward.
 

Jeffthered

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Post like these are the sort of nonsense and myth perpetrated on these boards and some people take them as facts. This bullshit about Martial doing nothing in games then only does 1 brilliant thing as summing up his game is blatantly not true and some of you ought to stop spreading such blatant lies or repeat nonsense heard somewhere else.

This place is ridiculous at times because of posts like this one quoted.


How many misplaced passes has Bruno made since coming here? Would you call him a bad passer. Players misplace passes here and there but it doesn't suddenly means they can't make proper passes at all. Martial isn't some horrible passer, that's obviously not true.
The continual questioning of Martial is due to his historical inconsistencies, so please do not accuse people who offer a different opinion, of 'knee-jerk'.

A few games , the odd-flash of quality, do not, in my opinion, change the underlying questions I have of Martial. He hasn't improved any aspect of his game (in my opinion).

But more importantly, I simply do not feel he is the best Centre Forward that a club like ours should and could attract.

He is not, in my opinion, a leading, Premiership-winning-Champions League-winning standard player. If we bought the young lad at Dortmund, we would not be having this discussion, and it is clear that OGS wanted him.

Martial is not in the same standard as Vardy, Kane, Ageuro, Griezmann, Kane, Benzema, Lewandoski etc, etc, etc. I don't care what 'stats' say. You watch and know football and you can see this.

Even the likes of Abamayang easily eclipse Martial. All. Of those names are far, far, far mor consistent, and offer a level of inspiration and leadership that Martial lacks.

Rashford is some way ahead of Martial right now, and he is still learning. Rashford captains the team ffs...

Martial is decent, and has great qualities, but he lacks as a leader, a talisman that top forwards need to be.
 

Msuker

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Funny, I thought he was very good with his press against City throughout the game and was linking up well with teammates, especially Bruno. Made more effort to get into the box as well, and he knew he was going to hurt himself when he threw himself at the Ederson blunder. Everything Ole wants from his center forward.
Danny Welbeck at 24 would be very good with his press in most games, too. After post-World Cup Lukaku, any other player in that position would be an upgrade on the press to be honest.
 

Andycoleno9

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No, James is our most important player.

Rashford and Martial are still not consistent enough, sure again garbage teams they look like they 'could' be, but when it matters most, they let the team down. They are no different now to when LVG played them, the difference now is we have proper winger in James, so if we get world class strikers, then the service is there, and will not be wasted as much.
Bloody hell :confused: :nervous:
 

TRUERED89

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No, James is our most important player.

Rashford and Martial are still not consistent enough, sure again garbage teams they look like they 'could' be, but when it matters most, they let the team down. They are no different now to when LVG played them, the difference now is we have proper winger in James, so if we get world class strikers, then the service is there, and will not be wasted as much.
Can’t believe what I’m reading here, do you even watch us ?. I think you need to check Martial and Rashford’s record against the top 6, particularly Rashford!!
 

bsCallout

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Both Martial and Rashford have shown a lot at their young ages compared to Mane & Salah at that age. We just need a RW(Sancho) to balance out that attack.

Add in the consistent creativity of Pogba and Bruno and I don't think for a second that we need another forward(starter).
 

Santoryo

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Martial has something like 8 goals in his last 10 starts against top 6 teams while Rashford has 6 goals in 6 games against them this season yet you read nonsenses about them not doing it against the big teams.

And meanwhile claiming that James who hasn't recorded an assist or goal since November to be more important than those 2.

Honestly certain claims should be ban worthy.
 

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He's not perfect but there's not a whole lot better that we'd be able to get in the market right now in terms of an out and out striker. He's added a lot to his game in terms of build-up play and he suits our style. I say we keep him as our number 9. Other positions are higher priorities.
 
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