Should we give up on Anthony Martial?

[1988]

When in form he's terrific. Reminds me a lot of Saha. Getting him in form and keeping him in form seems to be the tricky one here.
His red card against Tottenham seemed to throw him off and then injuries ruined much of last season. He had a very good 19/20 season along with Rashford and Greenwood.

 

[krentz]

Do you know what happened to him?

No one will be looking to buy him because of his huge wages. So we are stuck with him for now. The best we can do is use him as a bench option until his form improves.

The next time he has a great run of form and clubs start showing interest in him, we should jump at the opportunity and sell him.

There was a club for Sanchez, bet there is a club for Martial too. The key is if we eager to take a hit, either by losing him for less transfer fee or subsidizing his wages.

No. He is first cover for both Cavani and Rash. But this season he must step up. No question about it.

Heres the problem, in what world you justified paying 250k for a back up player?

 

[Abraxas]

I don't think we can afford to give up because I just don't see how we're getting anything approaching a decent return on our investment. We bought him for a good fee, but more pertinently, he's rumoured to be on an absolute shed load of money currently.

Only a handful of clubs can take our higher earners, that is the simple reality of the situation. Only a reduction in salary could induce another category of buyer but what possible incentive is there for Martial to do that? I'm always confused when I see people saying we should sell him for a good fee, but what are they honestly expecting out of that situation given the overall financial package Martial represents alongside his awful form and inconsistent play? Which clubs want him?

I think we'll end up keeping him quite honestly. Maybe he'll be a decent rotation option on the left, the odd game down the middle. It won't justify his place within the squad as a high earner, but it's probably the compromise we'll have to accept. Or he might have enough of his good spells among the lethargic showings to call it a good season.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

No, on form he’s still our best attacker. Whether he rediscovers that I don’t know but he needs one more season.

 

[pascell]

No, on form he’s still our best attacker. Whether he rediscovers that I don’t know but he needs one more season.

How many times can we say 'one more season' before realising he's just not good enough? We say it far too often about too many players.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

How many times can we say 'one more season' before realising he's just not good enough? We say it far too often about too many players.

We have done that with too many players. Very few of them are as talented as Martial and even fewer have shown the quality he’s shown in spells in a Utd shirt. He was brilliant just a season ago.

 

[GreenFieldsGoldenBarley]

He was really good last year! It would be terrible business to sell him now, when his value is at it's lowest. There's no way he will be this bad next season, every season except for this one he's been pretty consistent. It's a real shame he was so bad this season, but it still feels too knee-jerk to say he must be sold now. He could be our starting no9 next season and score 20 goals and it wouldn't be a surprise.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Do you know what happened to him?



There was a club for Sanchez, bet there is a club for Martial too. The key is if we eager to take a hit, either by losing him for less transfer fee or subsidizing his wages.



Heres the problem, in what world you justified paying 250k for a back up player?

I don't. Bad choice of words. What is definition of important first team player but not a regular starter?
My point is that Martial will play a lot of games instead of Cavani who can't play week after week. He is also our best option on the left when Rashy is not playing. Basically, he is our 3rd best attacker. And needs to stay.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Getting rid of him would only weaken our squad.

 

[Irrational.]

If we got £50 million for him I’d drive him to the airport myself. One of the biggest disappointments after one of the most exciting debuts.

If we can’t get that amount then he’s worth keeping and taking a chance on. There is a chance he’ll bang a few in on an inconsistent basis.

 

[Harry190]

He had his chance.

 

[KennyBurner]

Hell no! Now that we are getting better technical players around him like sancho we should see a better player all around. We replaced players like mata with daniel james and greenwood which has seen less compatibility. We need more attackers that can hold the ball up and play one touch passes for better chemistry.

I will say this season is his last chance for me personally. Im expecting more than just numbers but also a leadership role from him. He has to demand more of everything as he is a senior at the club.

 

[GDaly95]

I think we should.

We haven't seen steady improvement and we haven't seen a 'penny drop' moment where he suddenly ups it a level. He's been here long enough to see either of those things and we're still at a point where we could probably get a decent fee for him.

On top of that, it just has a 'time to move on' feeling to it imo. A move feels like it makes sense for everyone. A new environment might help him (unless its at Spurs).

 

[KennyBurner]

Just commeting again on how silly this thread is. We dont even have the muscle/depth to be thinking about selling him. Greenwood is not a better play than martial regardless of what the cafe will try and tell you. Martial is not some lindelof that can be easily replaced.

If someone does offer what we payed for him then we can create more of these pointless threads.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

In theory he could be a brilliant bench option.

In theory he could even bounce back as someone who deserves to start (either on the left or in the middle).

Do I believe he will be/do either? Sadly, I don't.

But I've been wrong before, feck knows.

 

[nutmegrush]

Yes, upgrade him

 

[28gunsalute]

Yes let him go while we can get some cash back for him. He only plays well when things are going for him which is very rarely.
A luxury we cannot be carrying week in week out. Ta ra

 

[bosnian_red]

He's a good player who never reached his potential and never took the step up. It's fine, still a very decent player but he's not enough to be an attacker for a top team, more for one fighting for top 4 is his limit. He's not made to be a squad player at all though, so it's either a starter or go somewhere he will be one.

He's not ever going to be ahead of Rashford or Sancho now for the wings, he's behind Cavani in his mid 30s as a striker, and Greenwood has more potential and is ahead of him now as a striker too. It is what it is. Hope he has a good career elsewhere!

 

[UnRational]

There were times last season when I forgot he even played for us.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Martial is - what - our third best paid player? And his reputation is hardly stellar at the moment.

There's also the matter of his contract - the nature of it, I mean: if memory serves, there's a clause there stipulating that if we're able to sell him for a substantial amount, we have to split whatever we make fifty-fifty with Monaco.

In short, selling him for anything like decent money seems far fetched as it stands right now.

 

[RedDevil@84]

if memory serves, there's a clause there stipulating that if we're able to sell him for a substantial amount, we have to split whatever we make fifty-fifty with Monaco.

Sell him for 60M to Monaco.

 

[DrRodo]

i really really hope we sell him. I can't believe the chances he missed last season. His confidence was absolutely shot. His lowest low is too deep for the standard we aspire for. Sorry Anthony, good luck in the Ligue 1

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

I really hate to say, probably best for both sides to move on. (if we get a fair fee)

 

[JebelSherif]

Why not coach him to be better? Just an idea. If only Man Utd's manager was an ex superb striker, oh hang on....

Also - if only Utd. had one of the worlds' best strikers for movement along the front line (but who is in the twighlight of their career and could act as a mentor) oh - hang on again.

So keep him.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Sell him for 60M to Monaco.

Hehe, yeah.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Why not coach him to be better?

You may be on to something there...

Feck...what if we just coached Fred to be better too...

And...Lindelöf...the possibilities are endless.

Dare I say it...we could even coach DDG a bit...

We could save millions this way - it's actually staggering that nobody has thought of this before.

 

[Semir_Tuce777]

He gave up on himself years ago. Sell.

 

[OL29]

He is a total con man and should have been binned years ago.

Sums up everything that has been wrong with United post Fergie that this appalling miserable lazy excuse for a footballer had lasted six years and counting at the club.

The only decent think Jose did in his time here in my opinion was to take the Number 9 shirt from him but then he ruined it by giving him another one

This sort of hate is very ott.

 

[JebelSherif]

Thank you!

Seriously though, I heard today that Marcus Rashford could miss the start of the season due to shoulder surgery. Could this be a final opportunity for Martial to stake a claim to be a long-term Man Utd player of merit?

Furthermore, in these times of massive fixture congestion, because of the quality in the French squad, he is one of few top players to actually get a proper rest this summer. Another reason he might excel at the start of the next season,

 

[Suv666]

6 years of this ffs how much time does a player need he's obviously not a good footballer end of.

 

[diarm]

Why not coach him to be better? Just an idea. If only Man Utd's manager was an ex superb striker, oh hang on....

Also - if only Utd. had one of the worlds' best strikers for movement along the front line (but who is in the twighlight of their career and could act as a mentor) oh - hang on again.

So keep him.

You can only coach those who want to be coached. Ole can teach him how to find the right positions and how to improve his technique, but to be honest those aren't his big issues.

What he lacks is something that Ole can't give him. Giving a feck is something that has to come from within

 

[Womp]

Thank you!

Seriously though, I heard today that Marcus Rashford could miss the start of the season due to shoulder surgery. Could this be a final opportunity for Martial to stake a claim to be a long-term Man Utd player of merit?

Furthermore, in these times of massive fixture congestion, because of the quality in the French squad, he is one of few top players to actually get a proper rest this summer. Another reason he might excel at the start of the next season,

No. There use to be discussion on here that Martial would be the superior player to Rashford, I think by now it's well established Rashford is a better player, or at least, far more important to our team than Martial is. Martial if anything has regressed as a footballer, the one thing that really set him apart, his blistering speed and direct dribbling isn't as smooth or effective as it use to be. You've now got a player who still can't run in behind despite it being a clear flaw for years, who is very streaky in his mood/performances and who is on very high wages.

I think he could be a very good footballer, just not in this side, not anymore. He seems to struggle with competition too. He needs to go to a smaller side where he will be one of the main men and I think he will be good, depending on the type of football the team plays.

 

[bsCallout]

I'd definitely keep him, he can continue to learn from Cavani, he's a good age at the very least would be a great backup option but he's really talented when he's on it.

Bruno seems to like playing with him too, I think Sancho would too.

 

[diarm]

Talking about how much talent and ability Martial has is not that much more relevant than talking about how much talent and ability Ravel Morrison has.

You can spend the next ten years ignoring the evidence and hoping he suddenly changes his entire attitude, or you accept that he doesn't have the desire and work ethic to be the player he could be and you cut your losses.

I spent too many years defending the lad to the hilt - I really thought he was going to be special. But there are only so many times you can be mugged off by someone before you lose faith in them.

 

[snk123]

We shouldn't but we would because we're that stupid.

 

[Tarrou]

depends on what we could get for him, I'd take £40m

shifting a player of his profile is difficult, he's on huge wages, coming off the back of a poor season, and potentially seen as a player who failed at a big club and has a weak mentality

which manager would take a punt on him being their main striker in the PL?

I think we'd be lucky to get a decent price

so maybe it's worth keeping him as backup and see if we can get him to rediscover his form, we all know he has the talent

 

[Gary_Walsh_Nou_Camp_Hell]

The fact that United will allow a player 6-7 years of first team football to prove themself is a big indicator of why we're shit.

We're not a charity. Top teams don't do this.

 

[snk123]

Talking about how much talent and ability Martial has is not that much more relevant than talking about how much talent and ability Ravel Morrison has.

We have comments like these

 

[Womp]

Talking about how much talent and ability Martial has is not that much more relevant than talking about how much talent and ability Ravel Morrison has.

You can spend the next ten years ignoring the evidence and hoping he suddenly changes his entire attitude, or you accept that he doesn't have the desire and work ethic to be the player he could be and you cut your losses.

I spent too many years defending the lad to the hilt - I really thought he was going to be special. But there are only so many times you can be mugged off by someone before you lose faith in them.

In hindsight, he was a very good direct dribbler and fast, those were the two things where his 'natural talent' set him apart and it could be argued both those things have regressed and if anything aren't that special anymore. As much as I'd love him to come good, I just don't see where he has a place in this team anymore.

 

[snk123]

Try playing Messi with players who refuse to pass the ball and he'll look like shit.