Our Attack - Is it good enough?

[JustAGuest]

If we want to challenge for the league I don't think it's good enough. I think you highlighted the issue well with the creative numbers.

How much is down to the players, and how much is down to the manager in this case? Looking at Martial and Rashford it seems like their creative output (in terms of xA as in the OP) has gone down compared to previous seasons. Part of it may be explained by Bruno coming in and our play revolving heavily around him. Having watched us struggle to break down both Sheffield United and West Brom serious questions need to be asked.

 

[Lentwood]

Rashford has 16 goals and 8 assists

That sounds good until you realise that’s in all competitions. For me the real barometer will always be the Premier League. If we’re looking at PL goals, then Martial has 4 in 19 and Rashford has 8 in 24.

The reason I care about Premier League goals is because knockout competitions discourage low-blocks and playing for draws. Also, the PL will always be the hardest test a player faces, even compared with Champions League football nowadays.

I’m interested in how many PL points we can accumulate and we see time and time again we struggle against deep defences.

Rashford has averaged 0.31 goals per game and Martial 0.34, across a period of about 150 league games each. It’s not brilliant, especially at a club like Utd were we have most of the ball and do most of the attacking in a game.

For comparison, the like of Aguero, Salah and Kane average over 0.6 goals per game.

Callum Wilson averages a similar number to Rashford and Martial playing for Bournemouth and Newcastle.

 

[Nikelesh Reddy]

It's obvious we need a right winger but are our other players doing enough?

We are actually the most clinical finishers in the league with the biggest disparity between goals and xG (50 goals and 42.08 xG). However, this is taking account of the whole team.

Martial and Greenwood tend to be struggling to meet their xG.

Rashford - 8 goals - 7.4 xG [110%] (tends to score harder chances and misses easier chances.)
Cavani - 6 goals - 6.29 xG [95%]
Martial - 4 goals - 6.27 xG [64%]
Greenwood - 1 goal - 2.62 xG [38%]

There seems to be a tendency to point fingers at other areas of the pitch, but is it our forwards that are creating the biggest issues in our creativity?

xA and (xA per 90) - Ranked by xA per 90 - Liverpool stats from 19/20 - xA if 90 minutes played for 38 games.

Attack
Mahrez - 4.29 (0.3474) - 13.20
Foden - 3.50 (0.3069) - 11.66
Salah - 8.73 (0.2709) - 10.29
Sterling - 4.27 (0.2367) - 8.99
Mane - 7.24 (0.2358) - 8.96
Firmino - 7.35 (0.2178) - 8.28
Torres - 1.53 (0.1908) - 7.25
Cavani - 1.56 (0.1890) - 7.18 - Fewer Minutes in Comparison
Martial - 2.52 (0.1809) - 6.87
Jesus - 1.46 (0.1323) - 5.03
Greenwood - 1.20 (0.1098) - 4.17
Rashford - 2.1 (0.1017) - 3.86

Our forwards seem way off the pace in creating good chances with the best teams. We have got away with it by being pretty clinical, but I don't think this is sustainable.

Lack of movement, lack of teamwork between the front players (they barely pass to each other), bad decision making, holding onto the ball too long etc. all seem major issues when I watch us.

Our attack is very good,but we definitely need a top class conventional winger who can take our game to a different level.Like how Cavani has given us a different avenue up top,a proper winger can give us more options in the wide areas.Unless we have good attacking full backs,and unless we have a top quality RW,I”m afraid our attacking play won’t get better than this...

 

[Volumiza]

Rashford has 16 goals and 8 assists this season, his game still needs consistency and maturity but he's still young. Martial is running out of time though, he wilts under pressure, he was good last season but as soon as Cavani came in he folded rather than upping his game to meet the challenge. The thing is most here just want Haaland but I think they'd find just as much frustration in games like yesterday as we don't craft enough openings, we didn't create a single chance for Cavani yesterday and Haaland is in the same mold, he's not an Aguero or Suarez type #9, he needs supply to be effective. Our biggest issue is the disconnect between defence and attack, if Pogba isn't playing the ball takes 3 passes to go anywhere from our midfield which makes it very difficult to pull a well organised team out of shape, any forward line will struggle with a midfield like ours behind them.

I'm not actually one of those that think Rashford is so rubbish he can't play for us, his numbers are good. I do however think we should have a quality CF and a Martial replacement so we're not relying too much on Rashford as although his numbers are good, his play and form is really frustrating.

I agree there is an issue between our defence and attack, of course, but I also feel if we had forwards making more intelligent runs and a better understanding in general of that position we'd be in better shape. Rashford is a danger but always has his head down and seems to run blindly so I'd love to see that start to disappear from his game. Martial just has got to be phased out now on current form, how much longer do we wait for him? It's fine for forwards to have off spells but he is the other way round. Months of average with spells of good. That's wrong.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

The technical and physical abilities of Rashford and Martial are more than good enough. What they are lacking is active coaching and playing in a team that is not based on individualism. Not saying that they would turn into world beaters if they played for City, but they would certainly perform better with some active coaching and in a cohesive unit.

 

[Leftback99]

Agreed. If MMM had been even 75% of what they were post lockdown we would have been 10 points better off at this stage. Minimum

Greenwood is fair enough. Hes a teenager and had a bit of a second season syndrome. Rashford needs to pull his head from his arse and stop trying to play like Ronaldo. I think he will come good as well, but some time on the bench would do him good imo.

Martal should just be sold. Does not have the mentality to make it at a top club

I rate Martial highly but I think there is a mentality thing with him. Linked to that I don't think bringing Cavani in has helped him at all, rather than rising to the challenge of having competition for the number 9 spot his form has fallen off a cliff.

But some of our best football has been Martial up front linking with Rashford on the left with Bruno and Pogba, we've messed all that up this season to integrate Cavani. RW was and still is the main problem in attack, and now we've broken the LW.

 

[LuisNaniencia]

The technical and physical abilities of Rashford and Martial are more than good enough. What they are lacking is active coaching and playing in a team that is not based on individualism. Not saying that they would turn into world beaters if they played for City, but they would certainly perform better with some active coaching and in a cohesive unit.

Not sure I agree. They've both played under several managers and coaches and have both never found consistency.

Rashford should stay and hopefully improve, his pace is great for counter attacks, but I don't think he's playing well enough to be a guaranteed starter. He needs competition.

Martial, is frankly proving himself to be useless. A run of a few games of form a season isn't good enough and we should sell him.

We are reliant on Bruno and Pogba at the moment. If we had a player like Salah in the front three, we'd be different level.

 

[Lentwood]

I’m trying to be totally unbiased here as you can see from my post history I’m not a Rashford fan at all.

My unbiased, totally fair question to the “Rashford is good enough, Martial isn’t” posters is this...what metric is that based on?

Reason I ask is, their goals and assists to game metrics are very similar (Martial’s actually slightly better in the PL)

As another posted showed yesterday, amazingly, based on Opta statistics, Rashford contributes even LESS defensively than Martial. How that is possible I don’t know...it’s kind of like multiplying zero by zero...but the stats show it is true.

Both players are a similar age and have played a similar number of games.

My honest guess (and feel free to answer the question yourselves) is that Martial is French and was purchased for £50m whereas Rashford is a local lad and came through the Academy. Therefore, there has been this “top talent” narrative around him from the outset.

Remember, my question is not whether they are good enough. I feel they are not. My question is how come we see so many posters write off Martial and not apply the same standards to Rashford?

 

[Hughes35]

Right now Cavani, Rashford and Fernandes are the omly attacking players that are good enough.

Cavani is a stop gap, we need a RW and for Greenwood to fulfill his potential. Probable need another CF too...... Basically we're still miles away.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Issue is not finishing, it is creating good chances and it all comes back to tactics. We are the highest team in the PL when it comes to outperforming our xG, let that sink in for a second.

1. United
2. Southampton
3. Crystal Palace
4. Everton
5. Leeds

Source footballxg

 

[Fosu-Mens]

Not sure I agree. They've both played under several managers and coaches and have both never found consistency.

Rashford should stay and hopefully improve, his pace is great for counter attacks, but I don't think he's playing well enough to be a guaranteed starter. He needs competition.

Martial, is frankly proving himself to be useless. A run of a few games of form a season isn't good enough and we should sell him.

We are reliant on Bruno and Pogba at the moment. If we had a player like Salah in the front three, we'd be different level.

I would argue that having played for Mourinho for 2,5 years is not supporting your view. Same problem there. Individualism. Kane and Son perform because they already got the understanding/experience etc prior to Mourinho joining Spurs and the whole team is playing to get them the ball, and are delivering at an almost unprecedented level of efficiency.

How can Rashford improve? He makes the same stupid decisions game after game. One would think that having players take numerous shots per game from less than advantageous positions would make someone tell him that this is not improving our chances of scoring goals/winning games.

Martial, while not as bad with his on the ball decisionmaking as Rashford, just does not know what to do when off the ball. Actively reviewing videos of matches and playing in a team with some guidelines of how to play would certainly not make him perform worse.

Finding consistency would be easier if you knew what you should do on and off the ball when the team is pressing, attacking etc. Both as an individual and as part of the team.

 

[Devil may care]

That sounds good until you realise that’s in all competitions. For me the real barometer will always be the Premier League. If we’re looking at PL goals, then Martial has 4 in 19 and Rashford has 8 in 24.

The reason I care about Premier League goals is because knockout competitions discourage low-blocks and playing for draws. Also, the PL will always be the hardest test a player faces, even compared with Champions League football nowadays.

I’m interested in how many PL points we can accumulate and we see time and time again we struggle against deep defences.

Rashford has averaged 0.31 goals per game and Martial 0.34, across a period of about 150 league games each. It’s not brilliant, especially at a club like Utd were we have most of the ball and do most of the attacking in a game.

For comparison, the like of Aguero, Salah and Kane average over 0.6 goals per game.

Callum Wilson averages a similar number to Rashford and Martial playing for Bournemouth and Newcastle.

I wonder if the numbers for the 3 you listed would look the same though if you looked at their stats from when they were the same age as Rashford is now.

You also have to take into account the supply line at Liverpool and City, the former have the two best attacking fullbacks in Europe and we know Guardiola's teams are always loaded with creators. Where as at United we have Shaw who is on his first great attacking season, AWB, Fred and McTominay.

I'm not saying Rashford doesn't need to improve, in fact the opposite, but I do think the idea of buying new attackers being the answer is kinda like adding a spoiler and roof snorkle to your supercar while the transmission is broken.

I'm not actually one of those that think Rashford is so rubbish he can't play for us, his numbers are good. I do however think we should have a quality CF and a Martial replacement so we're not relying too much on Rashford as although his numbers are good, his play and form is really frustrating.

I agree there is an issue between our defence and attack, of course, but I also feel if we had forwards making more intelligent runs and a better understanding in general of that position we'd be in better shape. Rashford is a danger but always has his head down and seems to run blindly so I'd love to see that start to disappear from his game. Martial just has got to be phased out now on current form, how much longer do we wait for him? It's fine for forwards to have off spells but he is the other way round. Months of average with spells of good. That's wrong.

Well I think you'll likely get part of what you want in the summer in Sancho, but the striker situation wont change soon imo as there's nobody to get, look at Barca, Juve and Real all using old #9's or no #9 as the only 2 standout candidates are both unobtainable at the moment.

The thing is I often see good runs being ignored in this team, Van de Beek wasn't great the other night but there were several times where he moved into space and called for the ball only for it to go backwards or sideways, same yesterday with Cavani and Bruno, they made runs but Fred and McTominay either couldn't make the pass or didn't attempt it, which isn't on them, they know their limitations, but for a forward it must be demoralising knowing that no matter how clever a run you make the ball is unlikely to come. I think Ole is giving Martial plenty of chances right now and if it keeps going as it is he might well be able to sell him this summer to boost our transfer kitty.

 

[Lentwood]

Issue is not finishing, it is creating good chances and it all comes back to tactics. We are the highest team in the PL when it comes to outperforming our xG, let that sink in for a second.

1. United
2. Southampton
3. Crystal Palace
4. Everton
5. Leeds

Source footballxg

Who is responsible for creating those chances though?

Fernandes seems capable of it in this system. Cavani seems capable of getting into goalscoring positions (WBA the possible exception). Shaw is creating plenty of chances. Even AWB has improved in that respect under Ole.

Therefore, I’m still looking at Martial and Rashford.

There’s no genuine effort to press from the front (again apart from Cavani and Bruno). The hold-up play of both is poor compared with Cavani. The movement is absolutely dire, shown up even more by Cavani’s which is always excellent.

Even yesterday when we were far from our best, we still flashed the ball across the box a few times with nobody attacking the 6-yard box (we know Cavani goes near post every time). Who’s fault is that? Why aren’t Rashford and Martial learning that there are 5-10 goals on offer for them each every season just by hitting the back post when a cross comes in? None of that is captured in xG but is massively important

 

[OleTheGreat]

We've scored the most goals in the league, so there's that

We have also conceded a lot of goals, FYI!

 

[kopviolator]

We have also conceded a lot of goals, FYI!

What is the relevance of that considering the thread title?

 

[Hoof the ball]

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[LuisNaniencia]

I would argue that having played for Mourinho for 2,5 years is not supporting your view. Same problem there. Individualism. Kane and Son perform because they already got the understanding/experience etc prior to Mourinho joining Spurs and the whole team is playing to get them the ball, and are delivering at an almost unprecedented level of efficiency.

How can Rashford improve? He makes the same stupid decisions game after game. One would think that having players take numerous shots per game from less than advantageous positions would make someone tell him that this is not improving our chances of scoring goals/winning games.

Martial, while not as bad with his on the ball decisionmaking as Rashford, just does not know what to do when off the ball. Actively reviewing videos of matches and playing in a team with some guidelines of how to play would certainly not make him perform worse.

Finding consistency would be easier if you knew what you should do on and off the ball when the team is pressing, attacking etc. Both as an individual and as part of the team.

So do you think Martial and Rashford are good enough to start if we get a new coach?

 

[MU655]

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Not a good look, especially when Fulham did it a few of games ago.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Who is responsible for creating those chances though?

Fernandes seems capable of it in this system. Cavani seems capable of getting into goalscoring positions (WBA the possible exception). Shaw is creating plenty of chances. Even AWB has improved in that respect under Ole.

Therefore, I’m still looking at Martial and Rashford.

There’s no genuine effort to press from the front (again apart from Cavani and Bruno). The hold-up play of both is poor compared with Cavani. The movement is absolutely dire, shown up even more by Cavani’s which is always excellent.

Even yesterday when we were far from our best, we still flashed the ball across the box a few times with nobody attacking the 6-yard box (we know Cavani goes near post every time). Who’s fault is that? Why aren’t Rashford and Martial learning that there are 5-10 goals on offer for them each every season just by hitting the back post when a cross comes in? None of that is captured in xG but is massively important

I'm not absolving Martial, Rashford, Greenwood and Cavani of blame - they have all for me been pretty underwhelming this season to varying degrees but the issue we have with chance creation is essentially that Bruno is a human being and can't do everything all the time. Add in his passing success rate is about as consistent as Pogba's hairstyle and you can see the issue because if he's not at it, we look so bad as a team.

As a United fan with realistic expectations, my dream scenario re fixing our attack at this point in our history is we get to a point where you can watch us in games/look across our underlying stats and see we are creating surplus chances and then the issue becomes a personnel one. City, Liverpool, Brighton, Fulham all have this problem - Chelsea have crept up as well since Tuchel came in - their attacking systems are working well (i.e they are creating noticeably more chances than they are taking) and only then should the conversation turn to who can we buy to then take that to the next level. I'll clarify here that these are just examples and, it's worth noting, all are teams with very different attacking systems proving lots of different coaches at different levels have done this in the same league at the same time.

 

[Tibs]

I think our attack - minus Bruno - is in a worse state than our defence.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

So do you think Martial and Rashford are good enough to start if we get a new coach?

What I'm saying is that Rashford and Martial got the physical and technical attributes required to perform far better than they are now. And that playing in a less coincidental and individualistic scheme would benefit them. The same would active coaching(videoanalysis, drilling), either in regards to decisionmaking (Rashford does the same bad decisions each game, so someone is obviously not giving him feedback) or movement/positioning (Martial is either a second to late or not in the right position in the final third and in the build up).

If we got someone with the approach to attacking football like Mourinho. Then obviously no.
If we had a manager and coaching team that prefered a more systematic approach, then they could be moulded in to extremely good players in certain roles given their technical and physical abilities.

 

[Foxbatt]

Who is responsible for creating those chances though?

Fernandes seems capable of it in this system. Cavani seems capable of getting into goalscoring positions (WBA the possible exception). Shaw is creating plenty of chances. Even AWB has improved in that respect under Ole.

Therefore, I’m still looking at Martial and Rashford.

There’s no genuine effort to press from the front (again apart from Cavani and Bruno). The hold-up play of both is poor compared with Cavani. The movement is absolutely dire, shown up even more by Cavani’s which is always excellent.

Even yesterday when we were far from our best, we still flashed the ball across the box a few times with nobody attacking the 6-yard box (we know Cavani goes near post every time). Who’s fault is that? Why aren’t Rashford and Martial learning that there are 5-10 goals on offer for them each every season just by hitting the back post when a cross comes in? None of that is captured in xG but is massively important

I agree with you. But why are they not doing it is the question we need to ask isn't it?
If they are not following the manager's instructions day after day then they should be dropped and sold.
To me the main problem is the midfield. Why do Pep's team play well? Because Cruijff's theory is that the CB, the DM and the CF is the spine on the team. When the CB has the ball he should know what the CF is going to do when the ball gets to him in the box. It goes thru the DM and thru other players but it's the basis.
In our team when a player has the ball no one else knows what is going on happen. We have only one movement. It's over the top for Rashford to run on to.
You give this team to someone like Carlos Quiroz instead of Carrick and Fletcher we will play a lot better football and change in formation and change in style and players with this same squad.

 

[Lentwood]

As a United fan with realistic expectations, my dream scenario re fixing our attack at this point in our history is we get to a point where you can watch us in games/look across our underlying stats and see we are creating surplus chances

I can see what you are getting at but what is a 'chance', as defined by xG?

If Shaw bombs down the left and delivers a cross that falls to nobody, I would assume that this doesn't count as a 'chance'? However, my point originally was that this COULD be a chance, IF Rashford, Martial and Greenwood can get themselves into goal-scoring positions.

The reality is, we're not going to get 3/4 chances in a game against a low-block team were we carve the opposition open with pretty passing triangles and go through one vs one. These teams are too deep, too organised and the spaces between players is too tight. So it strikes me (and Ole has talked about this in interviews) that we need to break teams down by utilising the flanks.

For me, Rashford, Martial and Greenwood need to spend more time in the penalty area. Some of this comes down to systems and coaching and some of it just comes down to instinct and desire to score a goal.

 

[tomaldinho1]

I can see what you are getting at but what is a 'chance', as defined by xG?

If Shaw bombs down the left and delivers a cross that falls to nobody, I would assume that this doesn't count as a 'chance'? However, my point originally was that this COULD be a chance, IF Rashford, Martial and Greenwood can get themselves into goal-scoring positions.

The reality is, we're not going to get 3/4 chances in a game against a low-block team were we carve the opposition open with pretty passing triangles and go through one vs one. These teams are too deep, too organised and the spaces between players is too tight. So it strikes me (and Ole has talked about this in interviews) that we need to break teams down by utilising the flanks.

For me, Rashford, Martial and Greenwood need to spend more time in the penalty area. Some of this comes down to systems and coaching and some of it just comes down to instinct and desire to score a goal.

xG is more a guideline so with regards to your point, if we are crossing and passing enough but forwards aren't getting into good positions the options are we have poor forwards or there's an issue with coaching. Given both Rashford and Martial scored a lot of PL goals last season, Greenwood had a good season and Cavani is old but a renowned striker, I'm tempted to say unless we're horrendously unlucky (which xG would suggest we're not) then it's a pretty clear problem with our attacking system.

On that last point about 'not getting chances against low block teams' why isn't this an issue for other teams against WBA? Even just looking at shots and shots on target - Spurs, Fulham, SHU, City, WHUM, Wolves, Arsenal have been their last games and every single team bar Spurs has better attacking stats than us. That's damning. No coincidence that Spurs and United both play the same double defensive pivot system and are highly reliant on a single individual for creativity either.

 

[Judas]

I think our attack is capable of a lot better than what we're seeing. As much as it could be improved by throwing more money at it, it could be improved greatly in terms of coaching.

That attack should be doing better against the teams we've struggled against, I think its bonkers for anyone to pretend otherwise.

 

[Foxbatt]

Why is it that Martial don't get into those positions? Why is that Rashford always wants to put his head down and take on the entire defense?
Surely if the whole of CAF and everyone else watching the match can see that, the entire coaching staff should be able to see it?

 

[Tallis]

I haven’t read all the posts but to me it seems that Bruno is running a little out of steam. With Pogba out, we really need him to be the outlet of our attacking play. We are paying the price for not figuring out how to use VDB by now. He could have been a solution

 

[vanderpants]

of course its not good enough, that's why Bruno is instrumental to our side as the goals come from a CAM and not our strikers

 

[Rocknrolla69er]

We've brought in a striker with world class movement.
The problem we have is we have two hybrid striker/wingers who are quite selfish and have the habit of 9 times out of 10 look to get the shot off
The dynamics of our attack need to change as whoever is playing up front is feeding off scraps, Sancho wouldbe ideal now.
Martials on his way out I think and his performances show it
Rashfords way out of form and is struggling with his decision making .
We also need VDB and Bruno against the weaker teams to provide more chances for Cavani
And I dare say we could overload the attack more with Baillys pace at the back

 

[Alfie092]

No.

No way good enough, put in a top quality number 9 and RW and allow Martial and Rashford to fight for the LW spot for now.

 

[Foxbatt]

We've brought in a striker with world class movement.
The problem we have is we have two hybrid striker/wingers who are quite selfish and have the habit of 9 times out of 10 look to get the shot off
The dynamics of our attack need to change as whoever is playing up front is feeding off scraps, Sancho wouldbe ideal now.
Martials on his way out I think and his performances show it
Rashfords way out of form and is struggling with his decision making .
We also need VDB and Bruno against the weaker teams to provide more chances for Cavani
And I dare say we could overload the attack more with Baillys pace at the back

You can add to that Greenwood who is always trying to get a shot off too. We do not overload the attack because we have no midfield player apart from Pogba who can reliably thread a pass regularly. I have no idea why we bought DVB to play in our style and system. Players from Ajax is never going to be able to play like we play now.

 

[Rocknrolla69er]

No.

No way good enough, put in a top quality number 9 and RW and allow Martial and Rashford to fight for the LW spot for now.

Agree

 

[Lassitude42]

One or both of Rashford and Martial need to go in the medium term. Just too inconsistent and lack creativity.

 

[davidmichael]

I’ve said many times going into this season and even at the start of this season that I thought I’d we signed a quality right sided attacker (Sancho) we’d be a brilliant attacking force as I thought that would get the best out of Martial on a consistent basis, I really thought last season was the start of Martial being a 20 goals a season striker.

Reality is I was very wrong as he’s gone backwards again even though he’s now been given the chance to play as first choice striker and I don’t think signing Sancho or any quality right sided attacker will bring out the best in Martial, it’s clear he’s just never going to be the player we hoped he’d be and I think we should take the highest fee we can get for him in the summer.

With Rashford it’s different because he’s out scoring everyone else bar Fernandes even though he’s often being forced out on the right to accommodate Martial on the left with Cavani up top, Rashford at least tries to force something on the left whilst Martial basically offers nothing unless he’s 100% bang up for it.

Everyone who wanted us to leave signing a right sided attacker because “it would stop Greenwood’s progression” are now seeing how wrong they were as pinning our hopes on a 19 year old with one season of senior football playing out of position was never going to be the answer short term or long term.

That being said though I’d much rather we played Greenwood on the right and Rashford on the left with Cavani up top and Fernandes in behind as our first choice attack for the rest of this season, I don’t want to see Martial starting up top or on the left unless it’s due to injury as playing Martial is basically playing with a man less this season.

 

[lex talionis]

We most definitely have a problem on the front lone. We clearly need to address other areas too but this thread is about the front line so I’ll stick that.

Martial has to be sold. I can elaborate but I don’t think that’s necessary.

Greenwood needs to be developed into proper 9.

Cavani should be given a second season.

Rashford needs to improve, but should be our first choice on the left.

Diallo is a prospect and should be given a run of games this season to see what’s there. I’m going to assume (because all I have on him are YouTube videos) is that he has a bright future but that he’s nowhere near ready for prime PL time.

Sancho. Because we’ve been starved of quality at RW for a fukking DECADE now.

Mata, a beloved member of the squad who still has a few moments left in him — and I just want to add here that it’s a crying shame we never used him in the role he’s most suited for — but we should let him go back to Spain this summer. And give him a zoom call of some sort to thank him for his contributions to the club.

James. I don’t see much in him other than a pace merchant so we should probably sell him, but I wouldn’t be opposed to keeping him for cameo duty.

Pellistri. I don’t have enough information to make an informed judgment about him, or other U23 players who step up to fill out the squad.

Grealish is the colossus we all want, but unless we sell Pogba I can’t see us having the funds to

 

[VidaRed]

Everytime a winger or a central midfielder is near the box you can bet your arse martial is standing still or at best strolling within an arms length of the defender marking him. Zero off the ball movement, never manages to get on the end of a cross either and can't run past defenders or keep possession. I'm done with martial. I don't know what he has over ole that he's still on the pitch stunting our attack.

The difference between him and cavani is night and day.

 

[Rampant Red Rodriguez]

Add a RW, put Rashford left wing, Bailiy and Maguire at CB. Cavani or another top cfwd. And that's us best team in the league.

 

[wolvored]

I can see Cavani being fed up with this lot and not agreeing to the extension on his one year contract.
I’m also worried Bruno will become increasingly disillusioned with the way things are going and be tempted away to another team, with a big juicy contract and the prospect of actually winning something.
Where would we be then?

Martial is spent and there doesn’t seem to be any way back for him now.
Rashford is proving to be nothing like the player fans thought he might be. There’s no improvement going to happen there, over what we’ve seen before.
Quote all the xG and xA bollocks you like, you can see it with your own eyes, week in, week out and this has been evident for a very long time now, even when those lads had a purple patch and were banging in goals late last season.

Well said. Couldnt agree more with all you said.

 

[croadyman]

Add a RW, put Rashford left wing, Bailiy and Maguire at CB. Cavani or another top cfwd. And that's us best team in the league.

Still need a CDM and someone who offers more going forward than AWB as rotation too

 

[MadDogg]

Issue is not finishing, it is creating good chances and it all comes back to tactics. We are the highest team in the PL when it comes to outperforming our xG, let that sink in for a second.

1. United
2. Southampton
3. Crystal Palace
4. Everton
5. Leeds

Source footballxg

I wonder if that's because Bruno and Rashford tend to score quite a lot of low percentage chances. Martial and Rashford both miss a lot of good opportunities, or sometimes they'll make the wrong decision and make a decent chance into a difficult chance by dribbling too far or taking too many touches.