[stevoc]

For all the outcry i would actually like to see him get a run on the right. It would take some of the pressure off him and i think he could still be pretty dangerous out there after a few games to get a feel for the position.

Playing Rooney up top and Mata in behind is the only real option we have to get them both back in form, might not work but it's worth a try. If we continue with Rooney in behind and Mata stuck out right the team will suffer as they have both just not been performing in those positions this season.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

For all the outcry i would actually like to see him get a run on the right. It would take some of the pressure off him and i think he could still be pretty dangerous out there after a few games to get a feel for the position.

Playing Rooney up top and Mata in behind is the only real option we have to get them both back in form, might not work but it's worth a try. If we continue with Rooney in behind and Mata stuck out right the team will suffer as they have both just not been performing in those positions this season.

Rooney playing in such a vital position up top and so badly makes little sense IMO. Herrera with Martial infront of him and Mata on the right is the way to go. Wont happen though. Wayne is king at OT.

 

[stevoc]

Rooney playing in such a vital position up top and so badly makes little sense IMO. Herrera with Martial infront of him and Mata on the right is the way to go. Wont happen though. Wayne is king at OT.

Exactly which is why up top at least i think he would cause less damage to our build up play. And might even score a few goals to boost his confidence.

Mata on the right is absolutely not the way to go. We need width and pace out there to stretch teams and Mata provides neither but Martial can. Plus Mata looked better in the middle yesterday than out wide.

 

[kouroux]

The difficult times the club is going through is gonna make him a stronger player mentally. He already has so much responsibility.

 

[Mindhunter]

Exactly which is why up top at least i think he would cause less damage to our build up play. And might even score a few goals to boost his confidence.

Mata on the pitch is absolutely not the way to go. We need width and pace out there to stretch teams and Mata provides neither but Martial can. Plus Mata looked better in the middle yesterday than out wide.

Fixed.

 

[.Rossi]

Love this guy.

 

[Cereal Killer]

Fixed.

 

[stevoc]

Fixed.

Maybe but if he must be on the pitch then it definitely shouldn't be on the right wing.

 

[Adam-Utd]

1 thing I think him playing on the right showed the most is how nice it was to finally have pace on both wings. He made so many great dribbles through their midfield that ended with a poor Rooney pass or final touch.

We desperately need another right winger with pace, so that Martial can get back up top. Him being the only fast dribbler in the team isn't helpful at all.

 

[MDFC Manager]

1 thing I think him playing on the right showed the most is how nice it was to finally have pace on both wings. He made so many great dribbles through their midfield that ended with a poor Rooney pass or final touch.

We desperately need another right winger with pace, so that Martial can get back up top. Him being the only fast dribbler in the team isn't helpful at all.

This. We absolutely need to have pace on both wings.

 

[Adam-Utd]

This. We absolutely need to have pace on both wings.

It's something we ALWAYS had under fergie through the years minus Beckham, but obviously he brought a very different skillset. We could still play 433 with fast hard working wingers, or change and go 442 and still keep that pace. That is 1 part we have somehow lost in the fight to gain possession, as many would say speed kills.

It's mainly why Leicester are doing so well, they have the average fastest squad in the league, and stangely enough they are walking it.

 

[BBRBB]

He looked frustrated by the (non) service from his teammates against Norwich.

 

[Santiago_KinderBueno]

Sometimes he reminds me of a CAM. The way he has the ability to dribble & his close control; i feel like being right up against the defensive line is detrimental to his skills.

Either way our attack lacks a focal point. IMO all memphis, martial, lingard/ new RW should be playing off a central focus point (basically in front of the defence rather than up against it)

 

[sugar_kane]

Was at the game on Saturday and it was appalling watching him shunted out to the right while Rooney was stinking it up at #9.

It seems to me that teams find it much easier to smother him when he's on the wing as well. He'd be much more dangerous in the middle.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

Was watching asky last night and Henry was making a big deal of him being on the right saying it was a total waste and I tend to agree. They showed a touch map and almost all of his touches were right out on the touchline and he wasnt getting involved enough close to the box.

A player like Martial has to be playing as a striker, OK maybe late in a game chuck him out wide if were desperate but players ding score from the touchline. Martial has shown he is a goalscorer let's just hone his goal scoring skills as his finishing is not the complete article just yet.

 

[Adisa]

I'm not one of those calling for LVG lo leave before the Stoke game, but if this is how he intends to use him, then he needs to be fecked off asap.

 

[Loublaze]

I'm not one of those calling for LVG lo leave before the Stoke game, but if this is how he intends to use him, then he needs to be fecked off asap.

Yes, and Mourinho will come in to loan him out and eventually sell him like he did Lukaku

 

[Question234]

Yes, and Mourinho will come in to loan him out and eventually sell him like he did Lukaku

board would never let him do it. Woody is a personal fan of martial, scouted him and everything.

 

[Loublaze]

board would never let him do it. Woody is a personal fan of martial, scouted him and everything.

Im sure he did

 

[Shurou]

might not work but it's worth a try

At this point, I think it's pretty clear that it won't work and isn't worth a try.

 

[ZDwyr]

Yes, and Mourinho will come in to loan him out and eventually sell him like he did Lukaku

I doubt that would happen.

 

[stevoc]

At this point, I think it's pretty clear that it won't work and isn't worth a try.

Tell me please how many games have we played this season with Rooney up top and Mata in behind. And of those games how many have been in a row?

 

[AltiUn]

For all the outcry i would actually like to see him get a run on the right. It would take some of the pressure off him and i think he could still be pretty dangerous out there after a few games to get a feel for the position.

Playing Rooney up top and Mata in behind is the only real option we have to get them both back in form, might not work but it's worth a try. If we continue with Rooney in behind and Mata stuck out right the team will suffer as they have both just not been performing in those positions this season.

Him getting a run on the right is such a shit idea, how about we just play him as a striker.

Mata's shit as a number ten and Rooney's shit as a number nine, Rooney has no chance of playing his way back into form, he's completely done, mate.

 

[Manny]

Him getting a run on the right is such a shit idea, how about we just play him as a striker.

Mata's shit as a number ten and Rooney's shit as a number nine, Rooney has no chance of playing his way back into form, he's completely done, mate.

Mata at number 10 can only be as good as the three static goofs put in front of him. If they don't move then he's got nothing to hit.

 

[Adisa]

Excellent analysis on LVG and clues to why our attackers have been shite under him. If he can't see this is a problem, then there is nothing anyone can do to help him.

 

[NinjaFletch]

Mata at number 10 can only be as good as the three static goofs put in front of him. If they don't move then he's got nothing to hit.

You're fighting a losing battle trying to argue our players aren't shit at the minute.

 

[stevoc]

Him getting a run on the right is such a shit idea, how about we just play him as a striker.

Mata's shit as a number ten and Rooney's shit as a number nine, Rooney has no chance of playing his way back into form, he's completely done, mate.

Lets be honest here Martial isn't exactly pulling up trees either up front. Yes he's young and in a team that isn't playing well. But he's being played too much and has too much pressure on him right now. Moving him out wide will relieve some of that pressure.

Mata isn't shit at 10 jesus he was Chelsea's player of the year 2 years in a row and one of the best players in the league. We play him mostly on the right and his form goes to shit, coincidence i think not.

Rooney may well be done but it seems like Van Gaal is going to keep playing him, so i would prefer him up front as opposed to in behind where his bad form will have a more negative affect on the team.

 

[Manny]

You're fighting a losing battle trying to argue our players aren't shit at the minute.

My point is, its ridiculous to pick out Mata when the rest of our front 4 (including Martial) are too static.

 

[NinjaFletch]

My point is, its ridiculous to pick out Mata when the rest of our front 4 (including Martial) are too static.

Oh I quite agree with you, but we're in full crisis mode and it seems everyones decided that absolutely everyone is shit for the time being.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Excellent analysis on LVG and clues to why our attackers have been shite under him. If he can't see this is a problem, then there is nothing anyone can do to help him.

That touch-map is just ridiculous. Has LVG mistaken Martial for Valencia? Baffling tactics.

 

[Adisa]

That touch-map is just ridiculous. Has LVG mistaken Martial for Valencia? Baffling tactics.

It's quite frankly blizzare and if the rest of the sack can't force him to change, then, we need to decide asap.

 

[Santiago_KinderBueno]

We had a problem on the RW from the start of the season. Soon as shaw was injured; the left hand side got just as bad. Everything currently has to go through the centre & unfortunately martial is still a little too young to build the whole team around; even though that is the long term plan.

 

[caid]

Mata at number 10 can only be as good as the three static goofs put in front of him. If they don't move then he's got nothing to hit.

Kind of off topic and i mostly agree but he goes missing at times and its just less detrimental when hes out on the wing.
I'd still play lingard on the right though, or young.

Martial looks great at #9 to me, i'd leave him there, its one of the few parts of our attack that looks functional.
Its the 3 behind that are the issue for me.

 

[Amadaeus]

Excellent analysis on LVG and clues to why our attackers have been shite under him. If he can't see this is a problem, then there is nothing anyone can do to help him.

Good analysis by Henry on Martial. It is good to know we are ruining a potential top class attacker in Martial for future reference. It is embarrassing how we are utilizing him as a static winger. Before we had him, we complained about not having a striker that run in behind, pull defenders and can score goals. When he first arrived, he did all of that when we played him centrally. Now we have resorted to giving him a more strict approach that has clearly ruined his game. It was a jest before when I taught we will ruin Martial after seeing what we did with Di Maria; now it does not appear to be to funny considering we are possibly hindering a potential top class player's development.

 

[RedStarUnited]

Lets be honest here Martial isn't exactly pulling up trees either up front. Yes he's young and in a team that isn't playing well. But he's being played too much and has too much pressure on him right now. Moving him out wide will relieve some of that pressure.

Mata isn't shit at 10 jesus he was Chelsea's player of the year 2 years in a row and one of the best players in the league. We play him mostly on the right and his form goes to shit, coincidence i think not.

Rooney may well be done but it seems like Van Gaal is going to keep playing him, so i would prefer him up front as opposed to in behind where his bad form will have a more negative affect on the team.

He has 7 goals in 20 appearances. He has probably played wide a few times too. He has adapted as well as any teenager moving to a new league in a struggling team.

What pressure exactly is on Martial? No one is moaning when he has a shit game or misses chances. Everyone thinks he is good now and will get better so we are willing to wait.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Excellent analysis on LVG and clues to why our attackers have been shite under him. If he can't see this is a problem, then there is nothing anyone can do to help him.

Posted in the mnf thread, probably useful here.

The issues Henry shows with Martial there, that is not a Van Gaal problem. That is a classic case of the player not understanding the tactics properly. You could see the same kind of positioning with players making runs last season.

For example, Fellaini's run and goal vs Spurs:



He keeps his positioning on the inside left channel, lets Young keep the width and occupy the fullback and all of a sudden he has a 1 on 1 with the defensive mid.

Mata's run and goal from the left wing against Liverpool



Same here with Mata, Herrera takes the ball and Mata keeps the width on the right wing until then, Moreno goes to sleep and bang in the next fraction of second, Mata is run in behind him to latch onto the through ball.

So its not like the manager has told him not to make runs but the players are not in-sync with the attacking part of the game. I'd like to see him play the same attacking unit he played last season with Fellaini, Young, Mata and Herrera behind a striker, either Rooney or Martial and see if those players do the right things.

Now when I see these clips, I kind of want to change my tune on Van Gaal here. These new players seem to be going through the same tough transition the older players had to go through last season and it all started to click around christmas period. He's not had the same players he had last season to carry it forward and he's also changed the system a bit by introducing an additional DM and things have not exactly gone to plan but it makes me wonder if we can have the same come to Jesus moment again this year albeit after a few tough knocks that inevitably come with a lack of consistency.

 

[Amar__]

Excellent analysis on LVG and clues to why our attackers have been shite under him. If he can't see this is a problem, then there is nothing anyone can do to help him.

Thing about Smalling in attack is top example.

Attackers who know their instructions are static, and defender who is lost in attack has better movement than them. It's quite sad actually what are attackers are instructed to do, or actually not to do. We are complaining about teams that park the bus and saying we lack quality to break it and our manager is instructioning our forwards to just keep their positions. Great stuff.

 

[stevoc]

He has 7 goals in 20 appearances. He has probably played wide a few times too. He has adapted as well as any teenager moving to a new league in a struggling team.

Where did i say he wasn't adapting well?

What pressure exactly is on Martial? No one is moaning when he has a shit game or misses chances. Everyone thinks he is good now and will get better so we are willing to wait.

Of course he's under pressure, most of our fans are looking to him to carry the team right now and i'm sure he aware of that. Because of other factors like senior players being woefully out of form and the squad being thin. He is having to take on more responsibility than he ideally should have to at his age.

And i could be wrong but it also looks to me like he is putting himself under pressure to perform and carry the team because of all the injuries and players in poor form.

Even at that at his age i don't think he should be playing every game, could lead to him burning out and slowing his development.

 

[kouroux]

Excellent analysis on LVG and clues to why our attackers have been shite under him. If he can't see this is a problem, then there is nothing anyone can do to help him.

Great clip, it just shows how out of touch from modern football LVG truly is. Carragher explained things very well and Henry was spot on regarding Martial.
Martial was never asked to play as a "hug the touchline" winger before in his career, another incredibly stupid decision by the manager. The more you think about it and the more you realize half the team's problems are self inflicted.

 

[Shurou]

Tell me please how many games have we played this season with Rooney up top and Mata in behind. And of those games how many have been in a row?

Do you think Rooney will suddenly roll back the years and start banging them away and leading the line because he's got Mata behind him? My opinion is that he won't, so it won't matter who's behind him.