[anant]

Are you aggregating the stats to include his 2013-2014? I'm looking solely at Januzaj's 2014-2015 season (i.e., the reason why he has been dropped this season). His performances were obviously much better in 2013-2014.

whoscored.com is not working on my computer but here is the source for the dribble figure for 2014-15 season.

http://www.espnfc.com/club/manchest...nuzaj-loan-from-manchester-united-to-Dortmund

"Januzaj also lost the ball when dribbling far more often than Di Maria or Mata, completing 27.8 percent of his dribbles whilst Di Maria's success rate was 29.1 percent and Mata's was 43.1 percent."

https://www.whoscored.com/Players/130334/History/Adnan-Januzaj

Only 2014/15 season

This is only for EPL appearances. So, the MKDons loss game and the other appearances(possibly in FA Cup) aren't there. But dont think it would make that much of a difference.

 

[Ji_Maria]

https://www.whoscored.com/Players/130334/History/Adnan-Januzaj

Only 2014/15 season

This is only for EPL appearances. So, the MKDons loss game and the other appearances(possibly in FA Cup) aren't there. But dont think it would make that much of a difference.

A 14% difference in the number reported by ESPN and what can be derived from whoscored.com. Interesting. It seems Mata's "derived" number from whoscored.com is 64%, which is also about 14% higher than the ESPN number. So I think we can safely conclude, that for one reason or another, whoscored.com has a 14% higher number than ESPN.

The point then still stands: Januzaj has a much worse dribble success rate than Mata, and according to whoscored.com, Januzaj has a considerably worse dribble success rate than Memphis and Lingard.

 

[anant]

A 14% difference in the number reported by ESPN and what can be derived from whoscored.com. Interesting. Care to post Mata's successful dribble stats from whoscored.com so we can see how they compare to ESPN's numbers?

I think he may be a better dribbler statistically than most others

 

[anant]

And yes, statsistically I can even prove that Mata has been dispossessed lesser times than Martial. Rather Mata's stats for being dispossessed may be among the best for our attacking players this season.

Another reason not to be reliant on stats

 

[Ji_Maria]

And yes, statsistically I can even prove that Mata has been dispossessed lesser times than Martial. Rather Mata's stats for being dispossessed may be among the best for our attacking players this season.

Another reason not to be reliant on stats

Can you find a single stat from 2014-15, where Januzaj was actually better in any of the key metrics than any of his main rivals (Mata, Lingard, Memphis, Rashford, Martial) on whoscored.com? I'm talking about things like creating assists, scoring goals, beating a man, successful tackles, killer passes.

I mean, it's extremely convenient to say not to rely on stats when they are overwhelmingly against you.

 

[anant]

Can you find a single stat from 2014-15, where Januzaj was actually better in any of the key metrics than any of his main rivals (Mata, Lingard, Memphis, Rashford, Martial) on whoscored.com? I'm talking about things like creating assists, scoring goals, beating a man, successful tackles, killer passes.

I mean, it's extremely convenient to say not to rely on stats when they are overwhelmingly against you.

Key passes/90 minutes

Januzaj- 1.7/90 minutes Last season
Martial- 1.3/90 min
Lingard- 0.8/90 min
Mata- 1.6/90 min
Memphis- 0.7/90 min

So, now can we say stats are a poor indicator, as clearly Januzaj in his worse season did better than our players this season

 

[RedDevil@84]

Key passes/90 minutes

Januzaj- 1.7/90 minutes Last season
Martial- 1.3/90 min
Lingard- 0.8/90 min
Mata- 1.6/90 min
Memphis- 0.7/90 min

So, now can we say stats are a poor indicator, as clearly Januzaj in his worse season did better than our players this season

What is the difference between a per 90 mins stat and per game stat on whoscored.com?
I see that the key passes you mentioned shows 1.7 per 90 mins but only 0.9 per game. Though both show up 850 mins in 2014/15.

 

[anant]

What is the difference between a per 90 mins stat and per game stat on whoscored.com?
I see that the key passes you mentioned shows 1.7 per 90 mins but only 0.9 per game. Though both show up 850 mins in 2014/15.

Per game stat divides the total by no. of appearances, /90min stat divides the total by minutes played and multiplies by 90.
Basically, 1st one is a bit biased against guys who come as subs, but favourable in cases where player is taken off early in case of poor performance

 

[Ji_Maria]

Key passes/90 minutes

Januzaj- 1.7/90 minutes Last season
Martial- 1.3/90 min
Lingard- 0.8/90 min
Mata- 1.6/90 min
Memphis- 0.7/90 min

So, now can we say stats are a poor indicator, as clearly Januzaj in his worse season did better than our players this season

Well, in the interest of thoroughness, see below.

Draw from this whatever conclusions you want. Numbers are per 90 minutes (except goals/assists obviously).

Goals (Januzaj worst)
Martial - 10
Mata - 6
Memphis - 5
Lingard - 4
Januzaj - 0

Assists (Januzaj tied for worst with Memphis)
Mata - 7
Martial - 3
Lingard - 3
Januzaj - 0
Memphis - 0

Successful Dribbles (Januzaj worst)
Mata - 61%
Memphis - 59%
Lingard - 55%
Martial - 45%
Januzaj - 39%

Pass Completion (Januzaj 3rd)
Lingard - 85%
Mata - 84%
Januzaj - 82%
Martial - 78%
Memphis - 77%

Key Passes (Januzaj 1st)
Januzaj- 1.7
Mata- 1.6
Martial- 1.3
Lingard- 0.8
Memphis- 0.7

 

[anant]

Well, in the interest of thoroughness, see below.

Draw from this whatever conclusions you want. Numbers are per 90 minutes (except goals/assists obviously).

Goals (Januzaj worst)
Martial - 10
Mata - 6
Memphis - 5
Lingard - 4
Januzaj - 0

Assists (Januzaj tied for worst with Memphis)
Mata - 7
Martial - 3
Lingard - 3
Januzaj - 0
Memphis - 0

Successful Dribbles (Januzaj worst)
Mata - 61%
Memphis - 59%
Lingard - 55%
Martial - 45%
Januzaj - 39%

Pass Completion (Januzaj 3rd)
Lingard - 85%
Mata - 84%
Januzaj - 82%
Martial - 78%
Memphis - 77%

Key Passes (Januzaj 1st)
Januzaj- 1.7
Mata- 1.6
Martial- 1.3
Lingard- 0.8
Memphis- 0.7

This is after we compare the worst Januzaj season with possibly the best of Martial and Lingard. Mata is experienced and Memphis who is also having his worst season hasn't done any better!

 

[Ji_Maria]

This is after we compare the worst Januzaj season with possibly the best of Martial and Lingard. Mata is experienced and Memphis who is also having his worst season hasn't done any better!

I'm just using this comparison as a basis for why Januzaj was dropped in favor of the other players. That is all. And by the most important metric of all (goals/assists), Memphis actually has done far better. He's also much better at beating his man in a dribble than Januzaj.

I'm sure the comparison of the 2013-14 Januzaj will be much more favorable to him, but that is not the Januzaj that we have today.

 

[Donaldo]

This page

 

[anant]

I'm just using this comparison as a basis for why Januzaj was dropped in favor of the other players. That is all. And by the most important metric of all (goals/assists), Memphis actually has done far better. He's also much better at beating his man in a dribble than Januzaj.

I'm sure the comparison of the 2013-14 Januzaj will be much more favorable to him, but that is not the Januzaj that we have today.

I was just pointing stats to prove that stats are a useless indicator. Mata who has been blamed for losing ball too easily has been dispossessed less than Martial.
And in the first 4 games before going out on loan, he was our joint leading scorer. So, if goals and assists are that important, He should have been retained

 

[khoazany]

I love how many pages this thread has increased despite him hasn't played any minute since.

 

[Ji_Maria]

I love how many pages this thread has increased despite him hasn't played any minute since.

The game is passing Januzaj at a blistering pace with lots of new talent coming throguh. Guess some people just dont want to see Januzaj get lost in this process.

 

[khoazany]

The game is passing Januzaj at a blistering pace with lots of new talent coming throguh. Guess some people just dont want to see Januzaj get lost in this process.

My point is people should just keep the thread quiet until there's something new.It's the same with Powell's thread people keep talking about how shit his attitude was despite he's out injured for 10 months and some of them didn't even notice that.

 

[prath92]

Memphis was benched after a string of poor performances and then he got only sub appearances. But in many of those games, he made a Lingard/Rashford may not be as talented as januzaj but they work hard and have been contributing positively for the most time. The reward for their hardwork shouldn't be to be benched for someone who just returned from being benched in another team.

 

[Sammyjunn]

He just isnt that good and very unreliable, that's why LvG prefers Martial, Lingard, Mata. Martial and Mata who have some genuine quality, mata for his end product and Martial for the goals and breaking defences, creating out of nothing. Lingard is a hard, stable worker who still has had some output this season, these are players a coach can build on. Not these Memphis and Januzaj who might be extremely talented, but just very unreliable.

 

[SSSSnake]

Just sell him off. It's obvious LVG doesn't rate him and I can't see him breaking through with the likes of Martial, Jesse and Rashford breaking through and solidifying their places.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Really? I think Lingard is a vital part of our team nowadays.

Jesus. Then again that confirms why we are an average team I suppose.

 

[Devil may care]

Holy statfest Batman!

If he is transfered in the summer I wonder if he'll stay in the PL or try Spain/Italy.

 

[jb8521]

Januzaj has never been a goalscorer so using it as a way of downplaying his ability is pretty pointless. He rarely scored for the under 18s despite usually showing that he was the best player on the pitch and having more influence on games and only scored once in 20 games for the under 21s before being named player of the year and promoted to the first team. What he did show was brilliant ability to make space for himself and others with his dribbling and passing ability and a lot of maturity in his game for such a young player, he often made the assist for the goal or the pass before the assist to open up the game. It was only once he got into the first team that he seemed to become more focused on trying to beat 3 or 4 players and focusing more on scoring goals himself. Ability and potential wise he has more than enough to make it at the top level but its up to himself to add the other things like work rate and consistency. I'd love to see him go back to playing the playmaker style of football which he used to play because I think it could be very effective in the team we have at the moment with the pace and movement of Rashford, Martial and Lingard

 

[amolbhatia50k]

This page

This

 

[dirkey]

The big thing for me with Januzaj is that the people who claim he deserves a place in the team, or that it's a travesty that he's not getting minutes, are basing this all on form he showed 2 years ago. Not anything from recent times. As I've said many times, he needs to be showing it in training, which he clearly isn't, as he's not being afforded a place in the team. When he does show it there, he will get his chance - just as he did at the start of the year, which he then didn't take. Scored a lovely goal but was largely average in my opinion (then again, who wasn't?) during that run.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

The big thing for me with Januzaj is that the people who claim he deserves a place in the team, or that it's a travesty that he's not getting minutes, are basing this all on form he showed 2 years ago. Not anything from recent times. As I've said many times, he needs to be showing it in training, which he clearly isn't, as he's not being afforded a place in the team. When he does show it there, he will get his chance - just as he did at the start of the year, which he then didn't take. Scored a lovely goal but was largely average in my opinion (then again, who wasn't?) during that run.

It's not just that, it's also:

A) Everything I've seen from him this season as well - whether it was 4 games for us, or most of the games he got at Dortmund, you could see his quality on the ball. Of course he lacked end product, and faded out of games and needs to work on how he imposes himself on games. But the class is still obvious. It's not as if he looks a nothing player like we've seen SO many times from Memphis this season. So people want that genuine quality he has on the ball given real faith and trust, at least more than it has so far. As I've often said, he's one of our most gifted, and in our interest, we need him to progress.

B) Our attack has been rubbish this season. As alluded to in point A) Memphis has been atrocious at times, and Lingard can often just give you work-rate. He pops up with a goal sometimes, but he has games where he simply doesn't have the natural talent to impact and puts in minutes of pointlessness.

So add those two together, the natural talent of Januzaj and the state our attack has been in this season, and it's no surprise why people would want him to play more. I don't think many people are saying "Start him every game!". Of course not. And even if not this season now (as we're in the final stretch), but I'd prioritize him much higher than we have this season. Given how shit our attack is, did we really need to loan him out anyway? I don't think so. We could have used him this season. When Memhpis was so awful, Januzaj could have been given chances.

 

[R'hllor]

The amount of effort...take a bow

 

[TheReligion]

I am really not sure where this lads career is going. Obviously still have high hopes for him but his lack of pace seems to cause him difficulties in the PL. Could really do with a run of games as there is every opportunity for him to make the right hand side his own.

 

[Shimo]

He has the talent but, at almost any level, that's not enough. He needs to forget that first season under Moyes. Maybe he thought he had made it and acted that way in training, maybe not. The reality doesn't matter because end of the day only thing he can do is get his head down and take his chance when he gets it.

If given a proper chance and with the right attitude on his part, with the other talents we have like Martial, Rashford and even Memphis, he could really have a huge impact. Just don't hope we don't give up on him and move him on this summer without him getting a proper run in the side.

 

[pocco]

Januzaj has never been a goalscorer so using it as a way of downplaying his ability is pretty pointless. He rarely scored for the under 18s despite usually showing that he was the best player on the pitch and having more influence on games and only scored once in 20 games for the under 21s before being named player of the year and promoted to the first team. What he did show was brilliant ability to make space for himself and others with his dribbling and passing ability and a lot of maturity in his game for such a young player, he often made the assist for the goal or the pass before the assist to open up the game. It was only once he got into the first team that he seemed to become more focused on trying to beat 3 or 4 players and focusing more on scoring goals himself. Ability and potential wise he has more than enough to make it at the top level but its up to himself to add the other things like work rate and consistency. I'd love to see him go back to playing the playmaker style of football which he used to play because I think it could be very effective in the team we have at the moment with the pace and movement of Rashford, Martial and Lingard

Spot on. It's the things that the statistics don't show that Adnan excels at currently. If you just watch him it is obvious how good he is anyway, forget the stats.
In the future, if we nurture his talent, then I think the stats will match his talents. At least in the assists area. His passing ability is comfortably better than some of our first team attackers and those that beat him in that department don't have his guile and dribbling ability anyway.

 

[shamans]

Fair play for the long and detailed factual posts. They certainly do add to the debate.

At the same time, I think it's important to understand why people think so highly of the player Januzaj can potentially be. I don't think there's a soul here, an admirer of his abilities or otherwise, who will tell you that Adnan Januzaj has good end product. He doesn't. Everyone knows that. But what he does have is the sort of natural talent that very few do, and of course the experience of having starred in the first team displaying that. He has had a couple of indifferent years now, but fans will always want an elite talent to be given chances. Especially when you have someone like Lingard starting every game in our team. To compare the two, and solely focus on end product, would be to be missing the kind of player Januzaj is. Lingard certainly is further in his development and has a knack of popping up with a goal or assist every now and then. Januzaj, however, is far more likely to hurt his opposing defender through his skill and technical quality, during most of the game.
....

The bold part alone is why he should at least be given a solid run in the starting line up (and not be philosophized). That "sort of natural talent" is rare by it's on but to actually show it in premier league matches at such a young age is extremely rare.

I am sorry but everyone can throw stats at me all they want but no matter what they suggest, I am can't accept someone like Lingard is a better player than Adnan.

 

[In Rainbows]

Januzaj has never been a goalscorer so using it as a way of downplaying his ability is pretty pointless. He rarely scored for the under 18s despite usually showing that he was the best player on the pitch and having more influence on games and only scored once in 20 games for the under 21s before being named player of the year and promoted to the first team. What he did show was brilliant ability to make space for himself and others with his dribbling and passing ability and a lot of maturity in his game for such a young player, he often made the assist for the goal or the pass before the assist to open up the game. It was only once he got into the first team that he seemed to become more focused on trying to beat 3 or 4 players and focusing more on scoring goals himself. Ability and potential wise he has more than enough to make it at the top level but its up to himself to add the other things like work rate and consistency. I'd love to see him go back to playing the playmaker style of football which he used to play because I think it could be very effective in the team we have at the moment with the pace and movement of Rashford, Martial and Lingard

Spot on. It's obvious who didn't watch him at youth level when they post. They don't understand his quality because they think he needs to be a goal scorer or that dribbling is his only method of influencing the game when that was just something he developed later. Let him play at 10 so he doesn't feel the need to dribble and to give him more of a need to be on the ball. I feel like at this point that's the only way to bring back his pre-Moyes style of play because when he's on the wing he often hugs the touchline and just tries to dribble past player. When he first came to United he still was able to play his style on the wing, but it's disappearing.

BTW, I'm not sure if he will outplay Lingard, Mata, etc... right now. However, I think he deserves some playing time in order to develop him.

 

[dirkey]

Spot on. It's obvious who didn't watch him at youth level when they post. They don't understand his quality because they think he needs to be a goal scorer or that dribbling is his only method of influencing the game when that was just something he developed later. Let him play at 10 so he doesn't feel the need to dribble and to give him more of a need to be on the ball. I feel like at this point that's the only way to bring back his pre-Moyes style of play because when he's on the wing he often hugs the touchline and just tries to dribble past player. When he first came to United he still was able to play his style on the wing, but it's disappearing.

BTW, I'm not sure if he will outplay Lingard, Mata, etc... right now. However, I think he deserves some playing time in order to develop him.

I think this is my biggest bugbear with this thread. When people say he deserves it. We can only say he deserves it if we see what he's doing in training. Obviously, none of us on here can (unless secretly there are some coaches frequenting the caf). If he shows it in training, then yes, he deserves a shot. But to say he does is based on no evidence in my opinion.

 

[El Jefe]

I think this is my biggest bugbear with this thread. When people say he deserves it. We can only say he deserves it if we see what he's doing in training. Obviously, none of us on here can (unless secretly there are some coaches frequenting the caf). If he shows it in training, then yes, he deserves a shot. But to say he does is based on no evidence in my opinion.

I also find it quite bemusing. If he's not playing he most likely deserves it. For all of LvG's faults, I find him to be a fair manager who gives all players in his squad a chance so if Januzaj isn't getting games he's most likely doing something very wrong.

Even if he was in the team I see us being no better tbh. At this point in time I feel we'll be worse off as a team with him in the starting lineup.

 

[In Rainbows]

I think this is my biggest bugbear with this thread. When people say he deserves it. We can only say he deserves it if we see what he's doing in training. Obviously, none of us on here can (unless secretly there are some coaches frequenting the caf). If he shows it in training, then yes, he deserves a shot. But to say he does is based on no evidence in my opinion.

Alright maybe that wasn't the right word. I think he should be given playing time to develop him. I think he should be getting similar treatment and chances as other players. Maybe it is all about defensive work rate, but if that was the case he should be getting chances in the 10 spot and Mata offers the same amount of defensive protection as Adnan on the wings. We should have never called back Adnan from Dortmund if we weren't going to play him. He was already playing so little over there due to how good the attacking players were and because of his lack of fitness being a detriment to the pressing Dortmund wants out of him, but he was still playing here and there.

@El Jefe
I disagree. I feel as though some players have shorter leashes and a lot of the young players are only played out of necessity. BTW, I'm not claiming he would make the team much better or some nonsense like that. Not sure if he would outplay Lingard right now, but I think he needs playing time.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Probably the closest thing we have to a right winger atm.

 

[Ji_Maria]

Januzaj has never been a goalscorer so using it as a way of downplaying his ability is pretty pointless. He rarely scored for the under 18s despite usually showing that he was the best player on the pitch and having more influence on games and only scored once in 20 games for the under 21s before being named player of the year and promoted to the first team. What he did show was brilliant ability to make space for himself and others with his dribbling and passing ability and a lot of maturity in his game for such a young player, he often made the assist for the goal or the pass before the assist to open up the game. It was only once he got into the first team that he seemed to become more focused on trying to beat 3 or 4 players and focusing more on scoring goals himself. Ability and potential wise he has more than enough to make it at the top level but its up to himself to add the other things like work rate and consistency. I'd love to see him go back to playing the playmaker style of football which he used to play because I think it could be very effective in the team we have at the moment with the pace and movement of Rashford, Martial and Lingard

I hate to beat a dead horse, but serious question. Can you think of any playmaker on any other team (whose focus isn't on scoring goals) who has failed to rack up assists? I'm really struggling to think of anyone to be honest. For instance, if you look at Ozil (not really known as a goalscorer) he has something like 18 assists this season. If Ozil is too high a bar, then look at maybe Coutinho, with 7 goals and 5 assists this season. Or Ross Barkley (Everton) who is the same age as Januzaj, with 8 goals and 7 assists (in just the EPL). Or Payet (West Ham) who's on 11 goals and 8 assists. Or Giaccherini (when he was at Sunderland) was on 4 goals and 4 assists, and that's SUNDERLAND.

Surely, for a club with ambitions like MUFC, we should have playmakers who are better than Payet or Ross Fing Barkley, and those two can beat a man and have tidy dribbling.

Somehow Januzaj has become the only playmaker in the EPL who can get away with not scoring any goals or creating assists on the back of a "very obvious you are an idiot if you can't see his talent" argument. Playmakers on every other team are expected to (and actually do) make passes that directly lead to goals, or actually score goals themselves. What makes Januzaj so special that he is excused from this crucial function that all playmakers in any league are capable of?

And just so you know, Januzaj actually is pretty piss poor at beating a man in a 1v1. He has poor pace and the lowest dribble success rate out of all of MUFC's starting outfield players. Let's not make stuff up. According to ESPN statistics he has 27% success dribble rate and according to whoscored.com he has 38%. Choose your poison.

Last time I checked, our biggest problem is lack of chances created and lack of shots.on goal. The last thing we need are more outfield players who do neither.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I hate to beat a dead horse, but serious question. Can you think of any playmaker on any other team (whose focus isn't on scoring goals) who has failed to rack up assists? I'm really struggling to think of anyone to be honest. For instance, if you look at Ozil (not really known as a goalscorer) he has something like 18 assists this season. If Ozil is too high a bar, then look at maybe Coutinho, with 7 goals and 5 assists this season. Or Ross Barkley (Everton) who is the same age as Januzaj, with 8 goals and 7 assists (in just the EPL). Or Payet (West Ham) who's on 11 goals and 8 assists. Or Giaccherini (when he was at Sunderland) was on 4 goals and 4 assists, and that's SUNDERLAND.

Pretty ignorant post. You're comparing a kid on the fringes of the first team at a big club to A) One of the world's best number 10's and others such as Payet who are in their prime and B) a set of playmakers/attackers who find starting much easier given they're playing for smaller clubs.

Somehow Januzaj has become the only playmaker in the EPL who can get away with not scoring any goals or creating assists on the back of a "very obvious you are an idiot if you can't see his talent" argument. Playmakers on every other team are expected to (and actually do) make passes that directly lead to goals, or actually score goals themselves. What makes Januzaj so special that he is excused from this crucial function that all playmakers in any league are capable of?

Nothing. But with him being 21, the idea is to develop so he can rack up goals and assists greater than the players you mention in a few years time. That's what faith in youth is all about. He had a year to forget last year, but that doesn't mean you never start him ever again. To put up goals and assists he does need to play football after all. And noones saying he should play every game, but it's about giving him chances. Same with Periera. They aren't going to become the players we want them to by never playing.

 

[Crossie]

@Ji_Maria
I'd agree with some of your points but wanted to add the following:

One general remark on assists: I think it's a skewed stats because it does not reflect the skills of the passer but is inherently linked to the finishing skills of the team mate taking the shot. The passer has next to no influence on that. Therefore, a more accurate reflection of a playmaker is his tally of all key passes (shot assists), not just goal assists.
One general remark on such stats: They should be adjusted to the time a player was on the field. Appearances are not enough in my book, as 1 appearance can be 90+ minutes, less than 3 and anything in between.

Specific remark on Januzaj: If you look at his key passes per 90 minutes during his spell in Dortmund, he wasn't actually that bad, although it goes without saying that stats from subs (attacking midfielders or strikers) are often better than of those who regularly start.

It's a pity that no website seems to provide the numbers for at least the pass of the second (shot) assists or the ones before. It would be much more insightful than just the key pass.

In October 2014, someone from Statsbomb looked at the players involved in the last four passes of a shot for all EPL sides, and also how reliant clubs are on certain players. http://statsbomb.com/2014/10/attacking-contribution-metric-and-man-uniteds-reliance-on-di-maria/

Granted, the cut-off of last four passes is arbitrary but the general idea is superior to any of the over-simplistic key pass stats, let alone goal assist stats.

 

[Perrick Dubois]

Januzaj has never been a goalscorer so using it as a way of downplaying his ability is pretty pointless. He rarely scored for the under 18s despite usually showing that he was the best player on the pitch and having more influence on games and only scored once in 20 games for the under 21s before being named player of the year and promoted to the first team. What he did show was brilliant ability to make space for himself and others with his dribbling and passing ability and a lot of maturity in his game for such a young player, he often made the assist for the goal or the pass before the assist to open up the game. It was only once he got into the first team that he seemed to become more focused on trying to beat 3 or 4 players and focusing more on scoring goals himself. Ability and potential wise he has more than enough to make it at the top level but its up to himself to add the other things like work rate and consistency. I'd love to see him go back to playing the playmaker style of football which he used to play because I think it could be very effective in the team we have at the moment with the pace and movement of Rashford, Martial and Lingard

Top post, this guy knows what he is talking about.

 

[anant]

And just so you know, Januzaj actually is pretty piss poor at beating a man in a 1v1. He has poor pace and the lowest dribble success rate out of all of MUFC's starting outfield players. Let's not make stuff up. According to ESPN statistics he has 27% success dribble rate and according to whoscored.com he has 38%. Choose your poison.

Last time I checked, our biggest problem is lack of chances created and lack of shots.on goal. The last thing we need are more outfield players who do neither.

I hate using stats to prove my point, but statistically as well you are wrong. You can't be comparing Januzaj's stats of last season vs the others' stats of this season. Its 50% this season, which I think is better than Martial this season. Also, his key passes are more than others, also Mata has been dispossessed among least no. of times. So, this season Mata and Januzaj>Martial. And Mata has statistically lost ball fewer times than Januzaj, and Januzaj most key cances, so Mata on RW and Januzaj #10? Since all stats (including Goals/minutes) except assists point Januzaj is better than Martial this season and we shouldn't rely on the past, how about convincing people than Martial has had a worse season than most others