He's at a crossroads with his development. Teams now know he's good enough running at them to push out to him and double up on him every time, and he still hasn't learned how to run in behind without the ball. He could be so good if it clicks, even doubled up on he can often get through.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 42
- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 8
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
He doesnt get the ball enough. Is it his fault for not being more actively involved or are the players just not passing to him enough when he is in between the lines?
He makes things happen, I honestly feel last seasons tactic of passing the ball to him and hoping for the best would lead to better results against shit teams at home.
He makes things happen, I honestly feel last seasons tactic of passing the ball to him and hoping for the best would lead to better results against shit teams at home.
He had a similar chance before this one where he ghosted in off the flank and had a shot from the edge of the box that was saved. He also had a good chance going through off his left and he forced a good save instead of squaring a simple ball to Rooney who was unmarked just inside the area. The one above must be demoralizing when you create such a good chance to see it squandered. Sometimes when I watch him play I get the feeling that when things don't come off for him eg. This beautiful piece of run and skill and serving up a chance on a platter, that he gets in his own head a bit and starts to over-think it a little bit to much. Maybe Mkhi had a similar mentality to his game?
I'm really not convinced with him as a left sided attacker, too casual with the ball and doesn't bustle and hustle near enough with a static striker up front and a somewhat static creative midfielder next to him.
In the long run, CF is the position that will make or break him.
In the long run, CF is the position that will make or break him.
In the first half, he was getting the ball & he looked dangerous, put it on a plate for Zlatan a few times, then in the second half, Pogba decided to hoof it at every opportunity. It's all the more frustrating because when teams defend deep like that, the last thing you need to do is to hoof it, but it's how we have responded almost every time it happened. Last season, he was the go to man, the players wanted to pass to him at every opportunity, this season, everything goes through Zlatan. LVG's very rudimentary tactics of get it to Martial & hope for the best seemed to work very well, but Jose has other ideas. It's not just Martial, but Mhkitaryan too, and this is where I prefer Guardiola to Mourinho, Pep would do wonders with these two players, but we're here, arguing about his mentality, inconsistency and rubbish things like that.
Pep is working wonders with Sane and Sterling, the bald c*nt. An important tactic of Peps plan is to isolate opposition full backs against his Wingers and this helps their game a lot. Martial & Mkhi in Pep's setup would be deadly.
He's been very poor and bad against Bournemouth. He should naturally goes to the bench against Chelsea.
He produces nothing down the wing and is clearly affected by this season.
Big miss for him this season
He produces nothing down the wing and is clearly affected by this season.
Big miss for him this season
He's generally fine and worked well with Shaw but we're not getting enough out of him. Am wondering if Zlatan's ban will liberate a few of our players going forward.
The amount of posts on here blaming anyone but him for his poor performances is ridiculous. I don't know why people insist on talking him up beyond what he actually is, he's a young lad with a lot to learn he's inconsistent but that's okay.
In another thread, a member analysis one instance where Martial is 1 vs 1 defender. Instead of trying to take the defender on/ stretch the play, Martial went for crossing which Bournemouth defenders cleared. That's the basic tactic. Problem is with how the player sees the situation. In this case Martial couldn't see the picture. Tactic is not really the problem here...
With the ball at his feet he's fantastic. Its like the ball is glued to his foot. He just needs time. He's gone through a lot this season what with his family problems. He'll come good!
It's not easy for him learning to play out wide when he's probably played through the middle his whole career. He's deadly through the middle. The likes of Sane are doing great at City because he has always played out wide. Martial definitely has what it takes to play out wide but in his head he is probably still thinking that he wants to play through the middle and it could be affecting him
Thats part of it, last season defenders didnt know much about him. Now they know how to limit his play which is very one dimensional really although not to the level of Depay.
Personally think he'll end up central, just not sure he'll maximise his potential out wide.
Somehow I just can't warm up to him. I don't think he'll be world class. He's missing something that's hard to explain.
and replace him with who exactly
Rashford who's even more limited on the wing?It's called hunger/desire/passion. Take your pick.
He has played about 90 percent of his career out wide. He isn't learning it, that's his position. He just has lots of games where he isn't fully engaged or doesn't realise how good he is. He had a couple of really good moments against Bournemouth in the first half, but left it to the others in the second.
He played a lot of games for Monaco as a center forward.
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/anthony-martial/leistungsdaten/spieler/182877/plus/0?saison=2014
The strengths of Martial are his running, his dribbling and his shooting which are all very good for his age. However his off the ball movement and his give and go game are not that tight, they need improving on.
He is another player that really benefits from playing Mkhi down the middle. He then has another player that can run at similar speed to his, to play on the counter with. Just look back to the goal vs wigan.
When he is in the team with Rooney, Ibra and Mata who are all quite slow, he can't show this. Look how far back Rooney is left in the clip. When all the players are slower than him, there's no one to counter attack with him so he ends up just trying to dribble the right back. If he's doubled up upon, he's nullified.
That doesn't mean the other players are to blame Martial not being as productive. Mata for example has very good give & go game in tight spaces that Martial doesn't have. He also does not make the runs that for example Aguero does, on the back of defenders. He needs to work on all that.
But it is a fact that having him as the only fast player on the pitch reduces his impact currently and the team's ability to counter attack. If he's on the pitch with Mkhi, he's a better player. If he had a Griezmann as well, he'd be even better.
He is another player that really benefits from playing Mkhi down the middle. He then has another player that can run at similar speed to his, to play on the counter with. Just look back to the goal vs wigan.
When he is in the team with Rooney, Ibra and Mata who are all quite slow, he can't show this. Look how far back Rooney is left in the clip. When all the players are slower than him, there's no one to counter attack with him so he ends up just trying to dribble the right back. If he's doubled up upon, he's nullified.
That doesn't mean the other players are to blame Martial not being as productive. Mata for example has very good give & go game in tight spaces that Martial doesn't have. He also does not make the runs that for example Aguero does, on the back of defenders. He needs to work on all that.
But it is a fact that having him as the only fast player on the pitch reduces his impact currently and the team's ability to counter attack. If he's on the pitch with Mkhi, he's a better player. If he had a Griezmann as well, he'd be even better.
That must be it. Watching him, I got the vibe of him mentally weak. There's no air of "feck you, I'm great and I'm gonna destroy you".
But most likely it's just an illusion in my head, though.
How many players have that at 21, especially when they've achieved nothing yet. He is not great, thinking he is great would be arrogance.
OK arrogance (in moderation) can sometimes be a good trait for a forward, but like I said at that age it's a bit rare. At least that's my impression of watching other 21yo players.
It's not about being arrogance, but more like mentally confidence. When you watched the Class '92 when they were young, they played with no fear. There's a lot of passion in their play.
But yeh, most likely it's just personal thing.
90 percent was overblown but still a significant amount more LW than cf, plus from all the reports at the time he still always cut in from the left. You can be a CF but still drift out wide a lot to find space, as sturridge used to.
What the hell? He was one of our better attackers albeit also quiet due to our stifled peformance. And he produces lots. See his stats for the last 15 starts.
His second half performance was appalling, his lack or urgency isn't good enough and was lucky not to be taken off.
You're right here. You just don't warm up to him, and that's totally down to you, it's the same way I never really warmed up to Ronaldo & still don't. Nothing to do with the player or his quality or lack of it. I love Lingard though, even though he's a bit shit. Get my point?
You're right, mate. Almost everything about football is personal thing; and sometimes illogical.
Zlatan being out will be a godsend for Martial imo. I keep saying this but I really do think that Zlatan stifles Martials game badly. I often see a reluctance from Zlatan to give the ball to Martial when he is in a better position and he always moves to the left hand side of the box and drags defenders his way whilst taking up his space.
I actually think there is some sort of issue there. I've seen Zlatan go mental at Martial this season when Martial scored instead of passing to Zlatan. It's not normal. If you watch Martial he often doesn't make his normal runs if Zlatan is on the ball because he knows he won't receive it unless Zlatan has no other option. I've lost count of the number of times I'm willing defenders to put Zlatan under pressure so that he will give Martial the ball in space.
I actually think there is some sort of issue there. I've seen Zlatan go mental at Martial this season when Martial scored instead of passing to Zlatan. It's not normal. If you watch Martial he often doesn't make his normal runs if Zlatan is on the ball because he knows he won't receive it unless Zlatan has no other option. I've lost count of the number of times I'm willing defenders to put Zlatan under pressure so that he will give Martial the ball in space.
I agree, Rashford makes more space for Martial than Zlatan does for Martial.
But right now that's irrelevant. Martial is not a better player than Zlatan, and Zlatan won't be here for more than another season I reckon.
But right now that's irrelevant. Martial is not a better player than Zlatan, and Zlatan won't be here for more than another season I reckon.
No you haven't.
You've come up with this Zlatan hates Martial stuff a few times and it seems more and more delusional with each retelling.
Think it might have been against Watford. Not saying he hates him but he ignores him a hell of a lot and you can often see the frustration from Martial.
I do think there's a bit of tension between them. Zlatan appears reluctant to pass to Martial and seems to be more frustrated than usual when he doesn't get his delivery right.
I get the same feeling too.
To be honest the club did them no favours with the whole shirt number shit show.
That's a strange example to use seeing as Martial's goal was scored after a pass from Ibra.
I was at that match. The two of them linked up very effectively throughout. I was the opposite end of the stadium to the Martial goal but didn't see Ibra giving him any stick either then, or at any other point in the match.
It's not inconceivable that Ibra - being Mourinho's right hand man - has been trying the same tough love approach with Martial as the manager and asks more from him than less talented team-mates. However, it's a huge stretch to say this is actually effecting who he will or won't pass to.
I was at the match, it was right in front of me. I've tried to find it on YouTube but it doesn't show Zlatan long enough. Zlatan seemed to think that he deserved the pass back because he bust a gut to get back into the box for the return pass. At the time myself and those sat next to me just laughed about it.
The only other explanation for ignoring him, or appearing to, is that Zlatan has horrendous decision making. I don't see how ignoring Martial would be a good idea to bring Martial on if that's what Zlatan wants to do. I'd hazard a guess that Zlatan is simply a huge ego and wants the spotlight but knows Martial was the man last year and is capable of stealing his thunder, therefore he doesn't give him the ball if he has another option.
That just seems insanely far-fetched to me. Not even remotely plausible tbh.
Well how else do you explain it? I'm not the only one sat there shouting "give it to Martial" countless times each game. Other posters have even said the same thing. If it isn't done on purpose then Ibrahimovic is an unintelligent footballer because he ruins some good opportunities by missing obvious passes. I think there were two or three alone that i can remember in the first half against Bournemouth.
You say its farfetched but you just said you think he's giving him tough love on behalf of Mourinho. What, to the detriment of the team and the result? If you accept that Ibrahimovic is a huge egotist then what I'm saying is plausible.
I just don't think it's a real phenomenon. It's something you've convinced yourself is happening because you didn't want Ibra taking Martial's role as striker in the summer and have been looking for reasons to criticise him ever since. I've talked United with a bunch of different people "irl" and not one of them has made the same observation. They'd be as bemused by it as I am.
People shout weird shit at games anyway. You get lots of random stuff that bugs people. I think you can get pockets of ST holders who feed off each other to create their own narratives. There was a few people around me at the Watford game who went mental every time anyone passed the ball any direction other than forwards.
It's that true? I didn't want Ibra but it was only a few weeks ago that i was defending the guy on here against a wave of abuse. I'm far from being in the anti-Ibra camp, if you want to call it that. But i don't really remember wanting Martial up front. My memory can be shocking though.
This is just an observation and I don't dislike Ibra enough to fabricate this. They probably would be bemused but if they haven't noticed this then why wouldn't they? If you spoke to @amolbhatia50k or @MadMike 'irl', for example, they probably wouldn't be so bemused because they have noticed it.
- Status