He isn't a £60m forward, is he? People complain about Pogba's price tag but what we paid for Martial is more ludicrous.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 42
- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 8
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
Zlatan hangs onto the ball too much a lot of the time often using Martial as a decoy when he probably should just give him the ball. Doesn't mean there's an issue between them. He's just a bit selfish.
Martial was one of the few creative players on Saturday and was a constant threat throughout the 1st half.
Ibrahimović should have scored a tap-in from one his crosses. He ended up kneeing it arseways.
He did fade out of the game after half-time. But the general structure and organisation of the team was a bizzare once they went down to 10 men.
Ibrahimović should have scored a tap-in from one his crosses. He ended up kneeing it arseways.
He did fade out of the game after half-time. But the general structure and organisation of the team was a bizzare once they went down to 10 men.
In a season or two when he's getting 20 plus goals and assists from the wing it won't seem ludicrous at all.
I personally see it all the time, even this weekend. Ibra on the ball far from any danger area and is starting to get closed down, Martial 5 meters away asks for the ball, Ibra puts his head down and tries to twist and turn the defender instead of playing the simple pass and proceeds to lose the ball. Doesn't even look up to say, sorry I fecked up.
Martial beats two players on the line and puts the cross that Ibra misses from 2 yards out, Ibra won't even acknowledge Martial's effort. 5 mins later Martial has the ball on the left and Ibra makes a run in the box asking for the ball. Martial tries to find him with a cross when 4 defenders are in the way and overhits it. Ibra throws his hands in the air in frustration like it was the most simple thing for Martial to do.
I have no real bias against either and I don't see Ibra do it to anyone else. Or any other player be reluctant to pass to Martial. I only notice it between these two.
I thought I was the only one who noticed it. First half of the season I thought it was because Martial was so bad that Zlatan didn't trust him but his form has picked up over the past few weeks and it continues, Zlatan does trust Rashford a lot though.
Glad it's not just me.
I have no real issue with Zlatan either but this is just something I've noticed. I do get incredibly frustrated with Zlatan but i always argue his side if anyone says he should be dropped because he simply scores goals. Like when everyone says he should get subbed if he's playing bad, I'll disagree because I'd still fancy him to score over whoever would replace him.
Martial and Ibrahimović might not like each other. He did take his number and top dog status after all.
Not just that. His position on the pitch more importantly. Martial wanted to play upfront to score goals and now he plays on the wing having to make chances for the man who took his number and position. I'd rationalise it if Martial was acting upset, but it's Ibra who's doing it which is confusing.
That said, Ibra deserves to be starting upfront, no questions there.
We haven't paid that much for him yet. £41.95M is the price so far which is roughly what City paid for Sané and lower than what they paid for Sterling. Next time he scores it'll go up to around £50M total. If he does well enough to fulfill any of the other clauses then he'll be worth the £60M total we'll have paid out for then.
He wants to? How do you figure? He's barely played there at all and to me looks a lot more suited to where he is. His best asset is his dribbling and he can't do that much as a #9.
Steady, now. I'm not gonna list the very long list of #9's that were/are dribblers, I'm simply going to say that the best number #9 ever, Ronaldo, was a dribbler. It's entirely possible and common to be a dribbler and to be playing centrally. Also I think he is pretty good at shooting from what I see, not just dribbling.
Anyhow. There's a huge difference in my eyes between being the left forward of a 2-man attack, and being the inverted winger of a 3-man. In the 2-man attack you might be drifting left occasionally, but you have freedom to move about as you please and it's not your job to be providing width. In the 3-man attack you have to provide width, that's your first job. Then you have to track the fullback. These jobs limit the amount of time you spend in the box where your goals are mostly coming from. You are a supply line, more than the scorer.
I have a feeling, and I might be entirely wrong in this but it's my impression, that Martial wants to be a forward not an inverted-winger. That he doesn't relish the Ribery role so much and all that it entails.
That said, even last season when he played more centrally, he didn't really show the kind of off-the-ball movement that #9's need to exhibit. Whether it's Ronaldo, Suarez or Sanchez or <insert deadly #9> your number 1 skill is making runs to receive ball at feet within sight of the goal. Finishing chances is secondary but also extremely important. Dribbling is a cherry on the cake. Dribbling alone does not make a #9.
At this moment in time the best words for Martial, inconsistent, and overrated.
Yes he had potential, but I swear if he was English he wouldn't be cut half the slack he has been this season.
Yes he had potential, but I swear if he was English he wouldn't be cut half the slack he has been this season.
He's lucky we bought Pogba (who is underperforming) and Ibra (who hogs the headlines) as it takes a lot of the emphasis off his form. I think he's been very average so far but isn't getting great service - he is always doubled up on by defenders and normally has to try and take them on given lack of attacking LB (I know Blind/Shaw get forward but Valencia does a lot more comparatively on the right)
I agree for most part, but shooting. His shooting/ finishing technique is limited. His best technique is curl into the far corner, still his is not the best when you compare to someone like Rashford Menphis... let alone elite like Messi, Neymar, Robben, Dembele, Kane, Sturridge, Reus, Bale... His curling technique is too inconsistent : from too overcontrollably narrow or too wide uncontrollably to perfect executed. Other than that, his other shooting technique is quite poor for someone being classed in such talent group. Unreliable left foot shooting. No top of the foot powered shooting, outside the foot, toe poke, volley finishing... What worse is how slow he releases his shot. He seems to have trouble sorting his body & feet when shooting = limited his own shooting angle & options. While I think he can improve & be a prolific forward, I don't think his instinct / natural talent as a finisher is that high compare to his peers.
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Really hope he gets a run at centre forward for Zlatans ban.
Doubly hope that Jose rejigs the team so he doesn't spend all that time playing with his back to goal trying to fight two centre backs.
Doubly hope that Jose rejigs the team so he doesn't spend all that time playing with his back to goal trying to fight two centre backs.
Agreed but I don't see us playing a 2-man attack. In a 3-man attack he doesn't have to track the full back much at all. Depends on how the 3 midfielders are set up but be it because of instruction or not, the right sided attacker does more tracking back than Martial.
About the only thing he has in common with Ronaldo is his dribbling and pace. Maybe he'll get his chance there in the next games.
I thought he was dropped from the team exactly for that reason. Because he was not running back to cover.
Now that Ibra's almost certainly banned I don't see why not a 2-man attack? Some of the most enjoyable attacking teams are using it, namely Monaco and At. Madrid.
We have no target-man to play Ibra's role. Putting Rashford up top is setting him up to fail, he can't play with his back to defenders and he hasn't played up top all season. Playing two removes the individual responsibility and the strikers are more likely to express with more freedom. A team with two fast strikers in Martial and Rashford can (theoretically) be deadly. It will also get the best out of Pogba, Herrera and Mkhi in my opinion. The same formation Porto played under Mou.
Monaco and Atlético have trained that formation and used it for a long time. We haven't. Conte didn't use his formation on Chelsea until they were ready.
I really don't care how we play so long as it's not Rooney or Fellaini that will replace him. Zlatan will miss the Boro match and I think we might see something different there.
Agree, but I bet we don't get to see it happen. I think Jose likes to see Rashford & Martial on the flanks and you can bet your bottom dollar that Rooney will feature in the centre of attack.
You ain't trippin it at all. Against Watford he had Martial open on the left twice with just 1 player running to close him down, yet both times Ibrahimovic opted for some through pass for Mata even tho there were 3 players on him.
Also if you look closely at that left foot shot that Martial made on Saturday you can see Zlatan complaining why didn't he pass it to him.
Actually if you re-watch the first half everytime Martial does something on the left that doesn't end with passing the ball to Zlatan, camera focuses on Martial caching him apologising to Zlatan.
There's definitely no love lost there.
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He is maybe not performing to his best but beside Mkhi he is the only when getting the ball who I feel could create something dangerous.
And I tend to think that playing left suits him more than putting him as 9 into the middle.
And I tend to think that playing left suits him more than putting him as 9 into the middle.
At this point with you guys constantly popping in every 2-3 posts claiming he's average etc, overrated isn't a word I'd used on him.
I don't know about that. Since coming back from his frozen period Martial at times has almost been playing even behind our left back.
He's been tracking back a lot. In fact his first instinct has become to track back and follow the opponent runner from our left side.
He doesn't even attempt to press when the ball start from our opponent keepers or defenders. At time you'd see Mata, Miki try to press a bit high when the ball start deep from opponents sides but Martial instinctively drops deep close to the left back.
I'd like to chip in in this Ibra-Martial debate. It's actually very trup that Ibra tend to ignore the simple pass to Martial out wide but that's certainly not because Ibra doesn't like him but because that's how he plays.
Zlatan likes playing through the middle and would sometimes force the play. That's just his way of playing, it doesn't matter who might be on his left but Ibra will try to go for a play in the middle more times than not.
So yeah I don't think there is anything going on between the 2. As soon as one realise how Zlatan likes to play you'd actually come to expect him to keep playing through the middle regardless of who is on his left.
Edit: Just realised I triple posted. Ouch.
Zlatan likes playing through the middle and would sometimes force the play. That's just his way of playing, it doesn't matter who might be on his left but Ibra will try to go for a play in the middle more times than not.
So yeah I don't think there is anything going on between the 2. As soon as one realise how Zlatan likes to play you'd actually come to expect him to keep playing through the middle regardless of who is on his left.
Edit: Just realised I triple posted. Ouch.
I've not seen that in games. Barely defended in the last two games.
Never claimed he was average, just not the second coming many would have had you thought when Jose was leaving him out.
I have no doubt that he has more natural talent than most of our players, but on what a lot of people think he can do, to what he has actual done, then yes he has been overrated thus far.
Why is it always someone else's fault he isn't performing? Not sure if some of these fanboys support the club or just Martial.
Needs to watch Neymar. Don't care how talented you are with the ball at your feet, you need to make runs.
Until he realises this, he will always be half the player he has the potential to be.
Until he realises this, he will always be half the player he has the potential to be.
21 years old , had a terrible pre season on and off the field. But he is sucking up. Harrera reckons he is best dribbler in the team. Can play both as a striker and a winger. I have no problem with him. And Ibra can be a cocky prick if you don't kiss his ass, I would actually be impressed if Martial is refusing to drink the Ibra coolaid. Maybe he believes he is or can be better than Ibra which shows balls.
You'd swear by the tone of this thread he's playing terribly. He's been good over the last couple of months
He's been better, yes, he's still had a lot of games where he's been on the periphery of things, during the last month.
Overall he's had a very disappopinting season to this point after what he gave us last year.
Is he not in a key position that dictates service though? I think he should be causing more havoc for defenders both on the ball so he can provide better service, and off it so that it opens up space for others or himself. He's quite predictable now though. Not sure he has the creativity/flair to do more.
Exactly
Should work on his off ball movement. And every time I watch him kick the ball, he seems to trust nothing the inside of his right foot, which makes him predictable and easy to defend against.
His decision making's been bad this season. Sometimes he beats a player on the inside and instead of curling it to the far corner, he goes for the near post.
This is the best advise he could get and should do. Although it still mind boggles of how with a skinny body frame like him, Neymar could run all 90 min. with no sign of decrease in acceleration and energy, though.
Skinny actually makes for the best stamina. That's why Marathon runners and 10k athletes are always low muscle, skinny athletes.
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