Problem is there's nobody to get on the end of his crosses, I wished last season he could cross it onto his own head because he has a decent delivery and our options from the right are dismal.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 51
- Goals
- 27
- Assists
- 10
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
True
Maybe we should just suck it up and play Fellaini as our starting 10. I wouldn't be against it at this point, tbh.Honestly, I think Martial is a decent headerer(?) of the ball and I think him as a somewhat false 9 with Lukaku and Alexis drifting inside from the wings would've been the way to go. Or just swap Alexis and Martial, though Martial's hold-up play is probably the best in the squad, imo.
He was quality this evening, looks a great leader. He should have knocked out Martinez when he got substituted, the luckiest man of all time. Get sacked from Everton, get the golden age of Belgium. #Wigan
Today played a great game. I have to admit that I expected something different.I had the concept that he was -as we say in Spain- a "trunk" forward (I have to watch United more often). Slow, heavy that only knows how to finish, but what power. It looked like a train in those sprints.
In addition, holds the ball very well, it is a relief for the midfield, and even tried dribbings in the area
In addition, holds the ball very well, it is a relief for the midfield, and even tried dribbings in the area
Somehow both an $80m signing and underrated.
Great performance on the very biggest stage. Highlights how good his overall contribution to the team is, and how we'll quite obviously be better if we get players near him.*
*as if Jose will let that happen.
Great performance on the very biggest stage. Highlights how good his overall contribution to the team is, and how we'll quite obviously be better if we get players near him.*
*as if Jose will let that happen.
Lukaku was quite something today. Not since he schooled Carragher in a West Brom-Liverpool game had I seen him be such a beast.
Interrupting this thread to say I love the big guy. What a performance he put in on the big stage.
Love him - so glad he’s on our team
That's pretty accurate for the 2nd goalTweet
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Too bad Zlatan wasn't the same after his injury. Maybe it would have been tried out
His sprint speed yesterday was 32.83 kmph, think it's faster than what Mbappe recorded against Argentina.
You do have a point. He has pace, has a good cross and can cut in to his left foot to strike.
And getting a Mandzukic would make more sense then.
Polish telly* clocked Mbappe at 37 km/h iirc, it's still impressive given Lukaku's size.
*They've obviously taken the stat from somebody.
Polish telly eh, I stand corrected, Lukaku's speed is even moreso impressive.
No way will I make Martial United's top number nine. He has not yet earned it and frankly, I don't see him as a World Class target man. More of a potential World Class target man. He has to be rotated with someone and then work to win the shirt. Imagine the top competing teams in Europe presenting Suarez, Ronaldo/Benzema, Diego Costa, Cavani, Lewandowski, Harry Kane, Aguero and then United presents Anthony Martial as our target man. Too much of a risk. I will rather leave Lukaku in the middle and use Martial as both a wide attacking forward and as a back up striker.
Yeah this would be my preference too. We tried him and Martial in a front 2 a few times and it gave them plenty of space to work in out wide or down the middle. And it definitely looks like Sanchez will be much more comfortable down the middle as time goes on.
Would be good to see for the pure novelty of it too. If we were to win a couple of trophies under Mourinho with no width at all, it'd be in such sharp contrast to previous successful United teams.
Second half he could have done better a few times, but first half he was a beast.
Suddenly that transfer fee looks a snip. Wonder what the Berties make of him now?? If he plays like that this season and Sanchez gets back to his best then feck me!!
Watching him in this world cup has made it even more obvious to me that if we can get the right midfield behind him, he'll be more than good enough for us to compete at the highest level. He's never been a great goalscorer, and it's unlikely that'll suddenly happen, but he's got everything else. The comparison to Drogba is obvious (and probably a little racist), but Drogba was never a consistently great goalscorer either but it didn't matter because Chelsea had players behind him who could score plenty.
If you want an idea of what I mean, imagine peak Rooney playing off Lukaku.
I like Martial but he is a few levels below Hazard , as are most players TBF
Fantastic first half, but something changed in the second half, not sure why but it seemed he couldn't hold up the ball and/or Belgium couldn't give him the right balls.
I really like him at RW, Martinez also employed Lukaku at RW once against Arsenal in 13/14 and he did very well then too
He played very well in the first half but Miranda completely snuffed him out in the second half. It was a really impressive performance by Miranda who defended him 1v1 in a wide position and completely shut him down. I didn't realise he was that good a defender.
He plays the best as a sort of right inside forward drifting out when not in possession and inward when we attack, and he plays his best football with Martial in the team.
Would be interesting to see us replicate the Belgium tactic in the first half. Martial as the counter option on the opposing flank/pressure release dribbler, Alexis as the false 9.
Martial —— Alexis —— Lukaku
He was impressive and if Belgium could create more chances for him (or even more important, United), he will smash them in all the time. His overall play is so much better!
He can certainly do a job on the right, but I think that only works in certain games. Brazil's left side consisted of Marcelo, Coutinho and Neymar, who are all much more focused on attacking than defending.
Yep, we trashed them 3-0. Said it in the overall WC thread but Martinez knows exactly how to utilise him.
Yes he looked good up there. One question, why, with Fellaini and Big Rom in the game, did Courtois send the ball to Hazard in the air? Their complete strategy to utilize those 2 isn't finished. We beat one of those early Champions league teams by sending the ball exclusively to Fellaini and having him chest the ball down to Mata to start our offense. It WORKED. He is world class in the air. Nobody better IMO.
Why Lukaku is being asked to play on the RW is confusing - this goes hand in hand with fans & managers thinking players lilke Rashford & martial are wingers simply because they have a bit of pace and can dribble on the channels.
All our current strikers are strikers who use the left or right flank which is a completely different ball game to playing as a winger.
Martial is one of the best left flank strikers because he is able to take his man on through the left channel & break in centrally on his right foot which he is a deadly finisher.
Same with Lukaku - its his finishing on his left foot in particular after attacking down the right channel that is deadly - not necessarily getting the best purely of his crossing ability.
This is why players like martial, Rashfprd lulkaku need to be playing in partnerships because they predominantly play in channels & we as a team need systematic covering of all channels. Lingard too covers a lot of central channels by running in to open spaces.
Whilst we have players lilke Martial, Rashford, Lukaku - how a manager can stick to one target man is beyondmy understanding.
Someone needs to return the 352 back to united & get our attackers playing in open spaces which will help our midfielders and then help our defenders.
All our current strikers are strikers who use the left or right flank which is a completely different ball game to playing as a winger.
Martial is one of the best left flank strikers because he is able to take his man on through the left channel & break in centrally on his right foot which he is a deadly finisher.
Same with Lukaku - its his finishing on his left foot in particular after attacking down the right channel that is deadly - not necessarily getting the best purely of his crossing ability.
This is why players like martial, Rashfprd lulkaku need to be playing in partnerships because they predominantly play in channels & we as a team need systematic covering of all channels. Lingard too covers a lot of central channels by running in to open spaces.
Whilst we have players lilke Martial, Rashford, Lukaku - how a manager can stick to one target man is beyondmy understanding.
Someone needs to return the 352 back to united & get our attackers playing in open spaces which will help our midfielders and then help our defenders.
Rashford grew up playing as a winger, Martial had success there for LvG.
Yeah, he needs space to take advantage of his pace and power. It's "easy" to nullify his most important assets for a team that's sitting deep, crowding him out and denying him space. Close control and agility is not his strongest facets, and as such we're not really making the most of him out wide against deep, compact teams, which we obviously face quite regularly. In those matches I'd rather have him centrally, using his strength to bully defenders, set up one-twos and hopefully cause some mayhem in the box.
Best thing about this World Cup is that Rom is finally getting the praise he deserves. He has been getting too much stick from everyone on the media even though except for October/November he had a very good season. Now everyone is praising him, great to see he's getting the recognition at last.
The poster was right. They were definitely being racist.
Rashford grew up as a winger but showed his best performances as a striker - even more as a poacher under LVG. Reverting him back to a winger is going backwards. Likewise martial played as a LW because Rashford broke through centrally as a striker mid way through the season - therefore LVG moved martial to the left (also to cover Memphis) & Lingard the Am to the RW as a mid-season tactic whilst they all broke through.
Martial - Rashford - Lingard was what LVG was left with mid-season. Next season just by pure strength LVG would have played
Martial - Rashford
Lingard
That's all if's & buts - however martial was always a LF, LS or St. When he played LW he was covering as discussed multiple times on this forum with French league watchers who watched him grow up for Monaco.
Rashford for me would not have broken through to the first team & maintained a spot as a left or right winger - atleast not without him fundamentally making a name for himself as a striker.
They all show a plastered approach to being a winger - this includes Lukaku who has the best crossing of the bunch. They can cover it - but Martial's, Rashford's, Lukaku's strengths lie in being strikers - that goes from there ability to play centrally, their ability to play off the channels & wings when needed, their ability to drop deep, there abilities to beat the line, take their man on, play one two's to beat the defence & fundamentally their clinical finishing which is underrated (possibly except Rashford who has lost his touch ever since becoming a winger again - the position he just simply is not good enough at & especially not as a target man for Jose)
If you think the best way to get the best out of these 3 players is by playing them consistently on one wing further away from the goal - you will see like martial that their ability became very easy to read as they are consistently playing through the same direction & trying to beat defences from the same angle. Play them off the centre as a LF would then they play against the CB instead of the fullback who are well capable to defend against the likes of Rashford martial & Lukaku playing on the wing.
Lukaku's never been a great goalscorer? He's the second youngest to 100 Premie League goals behind Kane
As you say, he has all those attribute to succeed there and, when cutting in, he's shown he has an eye for a nice through ball/cross field ball, too.
Mandzukic would definitely be an interesting buy. I do like him as a player.
Martial and Lukaku definitely had a good understanding when they were up top together when we were playing 3 at the back. Probably the best understanding in our entire squad, I'd say.
I'd be fine with that formation, or with Martial and Alexis swapping roles. Maybe your way would be better, though, as Martial is a threat from the left with his dribbling and crossing, and, with Alexis as the false 9 dropping deep, he'd be better than Martial at playing the inside forwards through.
To be clear, He's the 5th youngest to 100 PL goals behind Owen, Fowler, Rooney and Kane. Though to be fair to him, those 4 were playing for great Liverpool and United sides, and a Spurs team who do score goals. Lukaku did it with most being for Everton and West Brom.
Lukaku has some flaws for sure, but scoring goals is not one of them.
Lukaku's scored a 101 premier league goals in 220 appearances. That's a goal every 168 minutes in the league. If we compare him to the gold standard in current PL goalscoring, Harry Kane has scored 108 goals in 153 PL games, a goal every 113 minutes. Lukaku may well be a great footballer, which was the point of my original post, but there's no coherent argument that a near 1 in 2 record is that of a 'great goalscorer'.
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