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Anthony Martial France flag

2016-17 Performances

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5.9 Season Average Rating
Appearances
42
Goals
8
Assists
8
Yellow cards
3
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Until he adds some movement off the ball into his game he will never be a top player. He can't just rely on getting the ball to feet and running at players, because it's far too easy to mark him out of a game. Just stick two players on him and he struggles to have an impact.

His first touch needs improvement as well.
 
Damien said:
Lingard had been booked though. If Lingard hadn't been booked, the sub could have gone either way I think.
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I don't think so. I think Mou replaced Lingard because he felt he wasn't offering anything at all then later canceled the Rooney sub after he saw Martial make that great run of his and started becoming dangerous.

Rooney was certainly coming on for Martial with 25 minutes to go until Martial woke up a bit and became a threat.

In hinsight that was a good decision given that Martial first run sparked the team a bit and was heavily involved in our third goal byou opening up Southampton defense a bit with his dribbles.
 
charlenefan said:
He's finding it hard this season sides putting 2 or 3 men on him the minute he gets the ball, he didn't have that last season
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Yep this. Davis double teamed him all game. Our other players aren't using the space made by this effectively enough
 
Thought he was very poor today. On par with Rojo for a decent amount of it, just not as blatantly obvious what with Rojo doing it in such dangerous areas.

I feel like we're at a stage where he's holding us back but could also be our future.

By holding us back I mean that we could potentially get someone more effective in that position and our attack would be much better off for it. Someone who can be more creative, cross like a winger, make good, quick decisions leading to more precise football (something we majorly need to improve), and be more consistent doing it....BUT it would mean sidelining him for at least a couple of seasons, potentially stifling his growth.
 
RedStarUnited said:
The issue with people in here is you are either great or not. I dont think Martial was great today but he was shit either.

I still dont feel like the team appreciates Martial as much as it needs to. The periods when he is "quiet" in the game its cos we are not circulating the ball to him quick enough.
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Spot on with the first paragraph.

People are just too extreme, there is simply no middle ground. He was neither great nor poor. He was quite for about an hour than had some good plays which helped sparked us in those last 20 minutes where we won the game.

Words like "disaster", "awful" and all those extreme words are quick to be thrown around on these boards.
 
The one thing I dont like is when he loses the ball and just throws his hands up in the air when the ball is right there for him to win back. Its frustrating to see.
I also think he should have helped out in the first half to stop the first goal. He was with the man and kinda just pointed at him rather than going with him (which would have stopped the cross coming into the box at the specific time - right before half time).

At the same time, as has been said, hes one of only few players in our team who can get the ball and run past 3 or 4 players within a few seconds and drive us from defence to attack. I dont think he had a good game, but neither did our whole team. But I was happy to see him pick out Herrera for our winner rather than try and smash it towards goal.
 
Attacking, always a threat. played a part in 2nd and 3rd goals. Love him to bits.
Defending, I could do a better job. What is with that second goal we conceded? Mourinho would not be happy with that. He has to be stronger mentally when he is defending. You have to be gritty when defending and safe your flair for attacking. Unless you are a certain CR7.
 
Listar said:
Attacking, always a threat. played a part in 2nd and 3rd goals. Love him to bits.
Defending, I could do a better job. What is with that second goal we conceded? Mourinho would not be happy with that. He has to be stronger mentally when he is defending. You have to be gritty when defending and safe your flair for attacking. Unless you are a certain CR7.
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TBH his tracking back and tackling has improved so so much since last season. He's a better team player now. Wouldn't be so harsh because he lost one header.
 
RedStarUnited said:
The issue with people in here is you are either great or not. I dont think Martial was great today but he was shit either.

I still dont feel like the team appreciates Martial as much as it needs to. The periods when he is "quiet" in the game its cos we are not circulating the ball to him quick enough.
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This is spot on. His team work has improved a lot. Which is reflected in Mourinho's increasing trust of him. He's 21, he's still developing. He was hardly shit today. Had a hand in 2 of the 3 goals. He's got a lot of work ahead of him to become a really top drawer player, but conversely has just the right coach to make that happen.
 
He had zero support all game. No left back to support behind him and no attacking midfielder to link play with, all he can do is try to dribble against 2 or 3 players. Painful to watch at times our off the ball movement.
 
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I thought he had a decent game. He was the only one dribbling against the opposition defenders. His run led to Zlatan's winner. He was also involved in the build up to Lingard's goal.
 
abhayselvan said:
I thought he had a decent game. He was the only one dribbling against the opposition defenders. His run led to Zlatan's winner. He was also involved in the build up to Lingard's goal.
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Attacking wise yes. Defensively no. We conceded 3 goals this game and they all came from his side.

One would think he will be better defensively compared to mata just based on physique and pace. But mata with his intelligence (by cutting off passing lines)provide more cover for Valencia than martial for rojo.

He will have to do way better under a coach like mourinho unless mourinho suddenly change tack and absolve him of all defensive responsibilities.

Still, having said that, easily our most threatening player this game, and most games too.
 
simonhch said:
TBH his tracking back and tackling has improved so so much since last season. He's a better team player now. Wouldn't be so harsh because he lost one header.
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Yes he is better but he still need to up his game defensively, a lot.

I don't think I'm being too harsh on him seeing that all 3 goals we conceded came from his side. Rojo was the key culprit but since it is a team game, then martial have to take portion of the blame as well.
 
Listar said:
Attacking wise yes. Defensively no. We conceded 3 goals this game and they all came from his side.

One would think he will be better defensively compared to mata just based on physique and pace. But mata with his intelligence (by cutting off passing lines)provide more cover for Valencia than martial for rojo.

He will have to do way better under a coach like mourinho unless mourinho suddenly change tack and absolve him of all defensive responsibilities.

Still, having said that, easily our most threatening player this game, and most games too.
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If you just take a look at those goals again, it is clear that only Rojo was responsible for the offside goal and their 1st goal. Rojo lost a 50/50 tackle for the offside goal and then went too narrow for the 1st one. There is no way Martial could have done anything in that situation. The 2nd goal came from a corner and Martial lost the header that lead to the goal. But that was just one header from a stationary position. It was not like he did not track back or anything. Overall, maybe he should have helped out Rojo more, but if you just take the goals then Martial can't be really faulted.
 
abhayselvan said:
If you just take a look at those goals again, it is clear that only Rojo was responsible for the offside goal and their 1st goal. Rojo lost a 50/50 tackle for the offside goal and then went too narrow for the 1st one. There is no way Martial could have done anything in that situation. The 2nd goal came from a corner and Martial lost the header that lead to the goal. But that was just one header from a stationary position. It was not like he did not track back or anything. Overall, maybe he should have helped out Rojo more, but if you just take the goals then Martial can't be really faulted.
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Maybe you're right. Haven't watched in detail if he could have done better for the goals. Just going by the feeling that a lot of chances came from that side and all goals came from there too. The right side got skinned a few times too but luckily no goals conceded.
 
Im ok with him being average all game, if he can play the passes that lead to goals (2nd and 3rd goal). He is not consistent yet, but he is talented enough to turn a game in an instant. Eventually, the consistency will come, great talent.
 
I was disappointed with his contribution yesterday as I have been most of the entire season. He did play that pass to Herrera for the goal though so I guess I can't be overly critical.
 
Needs to be more consistant for me. Sometimes he just runs into defenders so easily and we lose possesion.
 
Concerned by this performance because there was no obvious excuse. It wasn't tiredness. He looked up for it at the start but he just seeemed so one dimensional - get ball and run straight at defender. This makes him easily nullified by putting two men on him. He lacks passing ability, one twos, flicks movement and interplay. I'm starting to think last season was down to him being the unknown quantity. He has a lot of developing to do to become a more well rounded attacker. I hope he learns the flicks and hold up play of Zlatan, the one twos of Mhki, the vision of Mata and movement of Lingard. Atm I can see next season him and Rashford both having similar seasons again to this as they are just raw young players really with a lot of progress to make. They are in the right place with the right people around them to make that progress though but wouldn't be surprised if Griezmann came and took his spot in a 4-3-3.
 
Sylar said:
The one thing I dont like is when he loses the ball and just throws his hands up in the air when the ball is right there for him to win back. Its frustrating to see.
I also think he should have helped out in the first half to stop the first goal. He was with the man and kinda just pointed at him rather than going with him (which would have stopped the cross coming into the box at the specific time - right before half time).

At the same time, as has been said, hes one of only few players in our team who can get the ball and run past 3 or 4 players within a few seconds and drive us from defence to attack. I dont think he had a good game, but neither did our whole team. But I was happy to see him pick out Herrera for our winner rather than try and smash it towards goal.
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I think that's part of his game that Jose wants to improve and that led him to being dropped earlier in the season. You can see Rashford is a far more willing tracker.

Also when Martial tracks back he quite often is just a body there, like he tracked back but he's heart's not in it to actually pressure the players and turn the ball over. He doesn't stick his legs in it. Like he just wants to say "look, I tracked back, I did my job" whereas for a little more effort and commitment we could have got the ball back. He does kind of the minimum effort, basically
 
A young player who was sensational last year. Has not been great this year in fact only sparkled in little moments this year. I hope he has his head screwed on and doesn't feck it up for himself as he has a lot of hard work to fulfil his potential. Right now his movement off the ball is shocking although his work rate is decent!
 
People forget he's just 21. That's the age most players break into first team football.
A footballer's progress isn't linear.
He was poor for the first 60mins. But as a team, we could not string 3 passes together, talkless of getting our wide man into decent positions.
In the last 30 minutes, he was instrumental in us regaining control of the match. He started running at them and forcing them back. His dribbling all game wasn't the best but it was instrumental in getting the winner.
Also encouraging, Mourinho didn't take him off and took off a goal scorer. Anyone with eyes could see he was causing them problems, even without playing well.
Very confident he will get there under the guidance of Mourinho. People need to be patient.
The fact that last year, he was our go-to man and saviour has distorted perceptions of what we should expect from him.
 
Lawman said:
A young player who was sensational last year. Has not been great this year in fact only sparkled in little moments this year. I hope he has his head screwed on and doesn't feck it up for himself as he has a lot of hard work to fulfil his potential. Right now his movement off the ball is shocking although his work rate is decent!
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He is struggling to find balance between holding the line and making diagonal runs.
I don't think it's an attitude thing. If anything, he strikes me as a player who's always willing to learn. It's simply something that isn't natural to his game and something I think needs long-term work.
 
He done well in patches yesterday, good work for the goal and created a few chances.

Really needs a competent LB.
 
Jesus christ...I'm reading all the negative stuff about his performace and it's mind boggling.

He wasn't exactly perfect yesterday but can all of you just take a look at the position he's being put in...not just in this game? Do you remember that Palace game last season where we drew and they shut us down? After the match Pardew said that all they had to do is to overload and cover Martial on our left and shut him down cause no one else was an actual threat. Something similar keeps happening this season, case in point the game eysterday.

Martial is playing out wide left and two most important teammates that affect his game in our system are LB and #10, players he interacts the most with during the game. Who did we have there yesterday? Rojo and Lingard. The moment Pogba was moved further up and Lingard to the right Martial looked better. Our issues with LB this season and Rojo performance are well known and Lingard offers almost no threat at all when he plays as #10...Just take a look at the game yesterday again and pay the attention on Martial for the first 60 minutes. He was double/tripple teamed most of the time whenever he got the ball...and he didn't get it much. They were able to do so, leaving him no space to operate in, cause Lingard was left to his own devices (and did nothing) while Rojo...well he's no proper LB, he never overlapped and supported Martial the way he should (not to blame Rojo there, he's a CB after all). Martial was also forced to track back even more than usual cause Rojo had a lot of issues at the back which further stifled his attacking options. It's easy to get frustrated for a young player when he gets into situation like that one. Just take a look at our Liverpool game in January and how he had 4-5 players swarming him at times. It's not a coincidence. He has so much ability that every damn team knows he can't be left 1 on 1 or he will wreck havoc down the left but we are unable to exploit the fact that he forces teams to change the shape of their defense fully cause we have a hole on LB all season and Mkhi started being used at #10 just recently. It's no wonder that most games where Martial played really well were when Mkhi was at #10. He's not only able to pick him up with a good pass more often than not but he's a threat himself which forces teams to cover him better which further leaves more space for Martial to exploit. Then...I can't recall seeing our LB overlapping and dragging one defender with him so Martial can stay 1 on 1...at all this season? Imagine if he was actually able to get some support like that yesterday, how different his game would look like? That's why I think sorting our LB position for next season (Shaw finally recovering or buying someone) is absolutely crucial.

All in all Martial is playing well having in mind what he goes against almost each and every game. Getting proper support in key areas would automatically elevate his game so much. He was more than fine yesterday.
 
Not his best game; didnt take on his man enough but had limited support and was at times doubled up on. He gives it away a little too often and has a tendency to go from a standing start which makes it harder to take on a full back.

Watching him in full flight is glorious though, great potential.
 
Played a big part in the winning goal, I noticed. I think he was involved in the second too. Certainly not a performance to start worrying about!
 
I thought it as one of his weakest performances in terms of general play. He rarely looks that unatural and awkward on a football pitch. Still managed to contribute well for two of the three goals which is a sign of his quality. His impact on our goals for his last 10-15 starts has been quality.
 
Adisa said:
He is struggling to find balance between holding the line and making diagonal runs.
I don't think it's an attitude thing. If anything, he strikes me as a player who's always willing to learn. It's simply something that isn't natural to his game and something I think needs long-term work.
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Yep fully agree hopefully he learns it.
 
He still seems to have basic flaws in the way he dribbles the ball. I don't quite understand how our world class coaches haven't yet fixed them.
 
Another start.
Reaping the rewards for in increased work ethic.
Now, hope he comes out flying.
 
Man Utd 1:1 Bournemouth
Playing well and going on the outside. Good to see.
 
playing really well. extremely dangerous. would have had an assist had zlatan not been so wasteful, and a goal too but it was a decent save by the keeper
 
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