[JG3001]

I'm hardly an advocate for Chelsea, but it was strongly rumoured that Hazard and Costa turned on Mourinho because his coaching, from an attacking point of view, was p*ss poor. Basically left them to figure it out amongst themselves with no defined plan, and concentrated on compacting the defence/midfield too often.

And Martial looks to be following a similar path of lack of confidence, leading to mistrust from the manager, inevitably leading to lack of giving a s**t.

I think Mourinho, whether he likes it or not (and he definitely does not), has to accept players are softer than they were even 10 years ago, combine this the fact they pretty much hold all the power because of the money involved, they'll just turn on you if you don't accommodate for them.

 

[Footyislife]

I think Jose Mourinho 's training sessions are not educating the players and there is a lack of clean plan about what to do with the ball , so young players are confused and martial is a victim of that.

This is so true. Anyone who's played FM knows you check your player's intelligence/age and creativity before setting up freedom and role. Play Martial as a LW inside forward instead of a winger and it would make him look better than Mbappe. That's all LVG did. The game was much simpler for Martial as he didn't have to worry about when to track back, when to not, how many players should i dribble past, when to make a forward run etc.

At his age you can't expect him to make complex decisions a right footed left winger has too. Especially when that player is a striker who's barely adapted to playing as an inside forward. He's probably scared that he'll lose his place if he makes a forward run and not be in position to track back. Clearly from his prior year performances the kid knows how to make runs. I just say its poor/lazy management from Mourinho with a player who doesn't fit his profile. Martial probably doesn't care anymore because he believes Mourinho is misusing him. I normally wouldn't mind, but Martial has arguably the most potential on our team.

 

[MadMike]

Rashford has been far better. Also no, if he isn't up for it, he can wait until next season to play himself into form, whatever that means. Same stuff use to get thrown around about Nani under SAF. Turns out it was never actually SAF's fault and Nani didn't need to "play himself into form".

Actually Rashford had not scored a goal in the league since September until last weekend. He had 3 goals this calendar year, all in the FA cup. He had also missed a shit ton of sitters in that period, along with many performances full of bad touches and running into blind alleys. So that statement I bolded, is patently wrong.

The difference between the two is that Rashford seems to try harder and be more involved even when things don't go well for him. Mourinho appreciates that and perseveres with him even when he's playing poorly. He's not convinced on Martial though, so when he has a bad game, he's on the bench for the next 3-4 games. For example Martial, Rashford and Mkhi had a stinker against WBA at home, but it was Martial that was benched after that. That becomes a vicious circle as Martial comes on for 20 mins and plays without confidence, probably knowing that unless he plays well he's on the bench for the next 2-3 games again.

You can blame it a bit on both really. Martial hasn't helped himself at all and Mou is also not the kind of guy who'll mollycoddle young players. It's entirely possible that while Mou is the right manager for Man Utd, he might not be the right manager for Martial. As was the case with Lukaku and KDB for example.

 

[prtk0811]

I'm hardly an advocate for Chelsea, but it was strongly rumoured that Hazard and Costa turned on Mourinho because his coaching, from an attacking point of view, was p*ss poor. Basically left them to figure it out amongst themselves with no defined plan, and concentrated on compacting the defence/midfield too often.

And Martial looks to be following a similar path of lack of confidence, leading to mistrust from the manager, inevitably leading to lack of giving a s**t.

I think Mourinho, whether he likes it or not (and he definitely does not), has to accept players are softer than they were even 10 years ago, combine this the fact they pretty much hold all the power because of the money involved, they'll just turn on you if you don't accommodate for them.

If i had the power i would have liked this post.

 

[Fracture90]

World class talent completely deprived of confidence.

 

[Womp]

Actually Rashford had not scored a goal in the league since September until last weekend. He had 3 goals this calendar year, all in the FA cup. He had also missed a shit ton of sitters in that period, along with many performances full of bad touches and running into blind alleys. So that statement I bolded, is patently wrong.

The difference between the two is that Rashford seems to try harder and be more involved even when things don't go well for him. Mourinho appreciates that and perseveres with him even when he's playing poorly. He's not convinced on Martial though, so when he has a bad game, he's on the bench for the next 3-4 games. For example Martial, Rashford and Mkhi had a stinker against WBA at home, but it was Martial that was benched after that. That becomes a vicious circle as Martial comes on for 20 mins and plays without confidence, probably knowing that unless he plays well he's on the bench for the next 2-3 games again.

You can blame it a bit on both really. Martial hasn't helped himself at all and Mou is also not the kind of guy who'll mollycoddle young players. It's entirely possible that while Mou is the right manager for Man Utd, he might not be the right manager for Martial. As was the case with Lukaku and KDB for example.

Yep, fair enough. Good point

 

[prtk0811]

As was the case with Lukaku and KDB for example.

Ithink in case of those 2 players the need of the hour for chelsea was to sell them for a decent fee so as to reinvest that money to challenge for the title following the pressure of Financial fair play where chelsea were really struggling to balance the books if they wanted to buy.

 

[Womp]

He hasn't had a run of games in the slightest. I can't be bothered to find them, but I'm pretty sure @Damien has statistics that show exactly how little regularity he has had. I don't think he's started three consecutive matches since September. It was only a few weeks back he looked like coming into some form, yet now we're back to square one. Everything I've ever seen from Martial suggests he's up for it. He doesn't sprint around like a madman, nor does he show a great deal of expression, but he showed more than enough balls last season to know he's made of the right stuff. If we play him we'll be better for it. This applies to all of our better players, something you can't seem to get your head around.

Fair enough, although he's in shocking form, whether it's because of lack of playing time or off the field dramas or whatever it may be. Players like Lingard and Rashford, even though aren't as talented are the types of players you can rely on at this stage of the season, especially considering how shite we are at finishing chances. Besides, games are coming in thick and fast, 2 games a week, players can't keep playing without being rotated. (Yes, I understand Ibra and Pogba won't be, but it's obvious they're Jose's favourites and without them this season we'd be fecked anyway)

Think this season is ultimately just a write off for him, he hasn't looked right to me since even before it began. His form was tailing off towards the end of last season and he was shocking at the Euros, started this season off playing consecutive games but was ultimately underwhelming, then all that drama with his girlfriend happened. I'don't think he'll be sold, I also believe he'll get more than enough opportunities to play from now until the end of the season, although if he isn't performing, there's no-one else he can blame.

 

[el3mel]

I have never seen a player in my life how gets all these excuses when he plays bad . His teammates are murdered on the slightest mistake while Martial always got his excuses ready from his fans .

It's all down the manager not trusting him , manager benching him , LB didn't help him , Zlatan didn't pass to him ..etc each time he plays bad. Anything but himself .

The only one to be blamed for his condition is Martial himself and no one else . When Jose came he immediately put him as a starter and trusted him . Him playing horrible match after another forced Jose to bench him and try different solutions .

Martial absolutely gave Jose nothing to feel ashamed of benching him , on the contrary , he proves to Jose that he was right to not play him . The kid with this mentality and attitude will never be the one many think he will.

I don't think he will survive here.

 

[MadMike]

Ithink in case of those 2 players the need of the hour for chelsea was to sell them for a decent fee so as to reinvest that money to challenge for the title following the pressure of Financial fair play where chelsea were really struggling to balance the books if they wanted to buy.

I don't know if that was necessarily the case or not, but they were certainly not really given enough chances by Mourinho at all. Lukaku was just loaned out again and De Bryne played what, 3 matches in his year at the club under Mou?

 

[prtk0811]

I have never seen a player in my life how gets all these excuses when he plays bad . His teammates are murdered on the slightest mistake while Martial always got his excuses ready from his fans .

It's all down the manager not trusting him , manager benching him , LB didn't help him , Zlatan didn't pass to him ..etc each time he plays bad. Anything but himself .

The only one to be blamed for his condition is Martial himself and no one else . When Jose came he immediately put him as a starter and trusted him . Him playing horrible match after another forced Jose to bench him and try different solutions .

Martial absolutely gave Jose nothing to feel ashamed of benching him , on the contrary , he proves to Jose that he was right to not play him . The kid with this mentality and attitude will never be the one many think he will.

I don't think he will survive here.

Because he's a great talent with great skills and no one likes to loose such a talent.

 

[prtk0811]

I don't know if that was necessarily the case or not, but they were certainly not really given enough chances by Mourinho at all. Lukaku was just loaned out again and De Bryne played what, 3 matches in his year at the club under Mou?

Well loan system is a system to ensure game time to a talented kid to develop and grow in confidence so there is nothing wrong there, Sir alex did the same with many players like danny welbeck too, With kdb he must not suit his style and we cashed on citing the ffp.

 

[MadMike]

I have never seen a player in my life how gets all these excuses when he plays bad . His teammates are murdered on the slightest mistake while Martial always got his excuses ready from his fans .

It's all down the manager not trusting him , manager benching him , LB didn't help him , Zlatan didn't pass to him ..etc each time he plays bad. Anything but himself .

The only one to be blamed for his condition is Martial himself and no one else . When Jose came he immediately put him as a starter and trusted him . Him playing horrible match after another forced Jose to bench him and try different solutions .

Martial absolutely gave Jose nothing to feel ashamed of benching him , on the contrary , he proves to Jose that he was right to not play him . The kid with this mentality and attitude will never be the one many think he will.

I don't think he will survive here.

Some good points, Martial certainly is not helping himself at all. But regarding the bolded bit, I think you remember things differently to the rest of us.

The first thing Mourinho did was bring in Ibra, give him Martial's number and shift Martial to the wing. He was ultimately proven right, as Ibra's had a great season while Martial regressed. But that's no reason to change the history. He definitely wasn't trusted by Mou from the start as you claim. He has been given chances though. And bar a spell in Dec/Jan when he did well he hasn't been consistent at all.

 

[MadMike]

Well loan system is a system to ensure game time to a talented kid to develop and grow in confidence so there is nothing wrong there, Sir alex did the same with many players like danny welbeck too, With kdb he must not suit his style and we cashed on citing the ffp.

Similarly, don't think Martial suits "his style". But because Martial had a great season last time he couldn't just not play him at all, whereas with KDB he didn't feel that he had to do that.

 

[TMDaines]

Just watched the match and that was one hideous substitute shift. Utterly awful in terms of dribbling and crossing.

 

[el3mel]

Some good points, Martial certainly is not helping himself at all. But regarding the bolded bit, I think you remember things differently to the rest of us.

The first thing Mourinho did was bring in Ibra, give him Martial's number and shift Martial to the wing. He was ultimately proven right, as Ibra's had a great season while Martial regressed. But that's no reason to change the history. He definitely wasn't trusted by Mou from the start as you claim. He has been given chances though. And bar a spell in Dec/Jan when he did well he hasn't been consistent at all.

I don't think Jose hold responsibility for Martial number changing besides Martial didn't get a bad number , he actually got a much better one , the number of Giggs and 11 is much more important in our history than 9. Number isn't an excuse by any means.

Zlatan position has nothing to do with Martial . Martial was already a LW when Jose came . Rashford was the main striker at the end of LVG era with Mata or lingard and Martial wingers . I don't know why people still considering him as a striker while all his good performance with us last season was on the wing .LVG was the one changed him to LW not Jose.

Jose came and played Martial and Shaw immediately from the start of the season . Their bad performance was the thing forced him to try different solutions than them. He didn't give them full trust , neither other players . The diffence is other players like Rashford earned his trust while Martial continued to sink lower and lower.

 

[prtk0811]

Similarly, don't think Martial suits "his style". But because Martial had a great season last time he couldn't just not play him at all, whereas with KDB he didn't feel that he had to do that.

But we dont need the cash from player sales, Either Mourinho plays him to his strenghts or he adapts .

 

[Womp]

Genuine question, but isn't it down to the coaches to walk through attacking scenarios with the players, not the manager? The manager would work on the build-up etc, but surely it'd be the coaches job to instruct them on how to react in attacking situations?

I remember reading something about Pep who said something similar, about how it was the player's jobs to know what to do in attacking areas, his job was to get them there or something.

 

[SteveJ]

I know f-all about football, as I've proven on many occasions, and here's some more proof: I feel that Ant heads down blind allies when facing defenders, as if that (successful) dribble on his debut - when he took the ball between two defenders and scored - is stuck in his mind. Giggs used to do similar, and it didn't even work every time for a talent like him.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

He seemed to snap out of it in February, he was great in the games at home to Watford and St Etienne in particular, and it looked like he was getting back to his best.

Been poor since then though and has barely contributed.

 

[Dobbs]

I know f-all about football, as I've proven on many occasions, and here's some more proof: I feel that Ant heads down blind allies when facing defenders, as if that (successful) dribble on his debut - when he took the ball between two defenders and scored - is stuck in his mind. Giggs used to do similar, and it didn't even work every time for a talent like him.

Yeah agree. Trying to hard? Overthinking it? Martial I mean not yourself.

That stat though about him not having three consecutive games since September. If true it can't be helping him. I don't see any positive in handling a young (ish) player like that.

 

[Lennon7]

I agree with all what you have said. Not sure if I have somehow confused you with my post but I said his body language doesnt change. No matter if hes having an amazing game or a shit game he always had a disinterested look. It just goes un noticed when hes having a great game.

Ah right, suppose I just disagree with you slightly that his body language never changes. I think he looks shot compared to how he did the same time last year. Head constantly down at the moment and just scared to try things.

 

[Litch]

Jose's teams have a mental toughness. Martial, Shaw, Smalling, Mikki for me are history for this reason. They do not have the mentality to play in a Jose team, and Martial in my opinion will never be there. Him like the others are too fragile and need too much tlc to get a tune out of them...

 

[Insanity]

He'll be replaced by some 28 year old who "does the job". His days are numbered.

 

[Z_Wolf]

Offer him to Wenger and ask for Alexis Sanchez.

 

[Terminator]

I think he needs a manager who is more relaxed and friendly. This tough love BS is not working on many of our players, especially the young ones.

 

[Raees]

That was a sad performance to watch. I don't get how fans can get so aggressive over what they saw last night.. all I felt was depression at how much we've ruined this potential world beating talent.

When Martial first came to the club, he dreamt of being the French R9. He wanted to play up front and in the box/his hold up play and his finishing looked top class for his age.

What did we do? To accommodate Fat Wayne, we pushed him out to the wing where he still did well but we stunted his development by basically telling him to stop moving off the ball as much, hug the touch line and just run at players time and time again. We turned him into a one dimensional player due to player politics.

Then we didn't even improve him in terms of his footwork, adding more creativity to his game - better equipping him for this left wing role and Jose coming in has been a disaster for his development as he lacks the attacking mind to coach a kid like Martial and add to his game whilst being patient with him and letting him grow into a better player. The shirt change was significant because Martial long term goal was to be a striker and the number change confirmed to him that United see him as a winger. Now I'm sure for most of us we think so what.. he should be grateful just to be at the club but for a guy who has dreamt of being a young striker and is young/immature.. it was a shock and probably made him demotivated.

You say to a young Ronaldo.. you're not gonna be a winger anymore, we're taking the 7 off you and gonna play you as a CM. Will that not kill his confidence and motivation? Of course it will. Young players are like babies, you have to be really careful with the way you handle them and yes they can be spoilt but as with any kid you have to indulge them sometimes and make them feel special as that is when you earn their trust and they want to succeed for you.

Yesterday was a culmination of all the shit Martial has had to put up with, he looked like he couldn't give two shits and I think like with Shaw it's a case of - probably best for both parties to go their separate ways. Martial should go to a club where he will be guaranteed to develop as a striker or at least under a manager who will be patient with him and focus on expanding his attacking Arsenal as he is very one dimensional sometimes and Jose should go out there and get us a proper left wing forward who wants to play there and can dribble to a world class level and is much more unpredictable.

For me the straw that broke the camels back was that West Ham game where Martial looked electric and then was dropped next game. Typical bad management by Jose who when he doesn't fancy someone just purposefully tries to diminish their confidence to test them or make a point .. after that I don't think I've seen a decent game from him.

The manager is clearly staying for next season so I don't see the point of starting Martial and paying that extra 8.5m on the transfer.. just drop him and sell in the summer and get in players the manager will use properly. At the moment he's a passenger and we're so bad in attack.. we can't afford to have someone like that.

Very sad situation to see.

 

[Z_Wolf]

That was a sad performance to watch. I don't get how fans can get so aggressive over what they saw last night.. all I felt was depression at how much we've ruined this potential world beating talent.

When Martial first came to the club, he dreamt of being the French R9. He wanted to play up front and in the box/his hold up play and his finishing looked top class for his age.

What did we do? To accommodate Fat Wayne, we pushed him out to the wing where he still did well but we stunted his development by basically telling him to stop moving off the ball as much, hug the touch line and just run at players time and time again. We turned him into a one dimensional player due to player politics.

Then we didn't even improve him in terms of his footwork, adding more creativity to his game - better equipping him for this left wing role and Jose coming in has been a disaster for his development as he lacks the attacking mind to coach a kid like Martial and add to his game whilst being patient with him and letting him grow into a better player. The shirt change was significant because Martial long term goal was to be a striker and the number change confirmed to him that United see him as a winger. Now I'm sure for most of us we think so what.. he should be grateful just to be at the club but for a guy who has dreamt of being a young striker and is young/immature.. it was a shock and probably made him demotivated.

You say to a young Ronaldo.. you're not gonna be a winger anymore, we're taking the 7 off you and gonna play you as a CM. Will that not kill his confidence and motivation? Of course it will. Young players are like babies, you have to be really careful with the way you handle them and yes they can be spoilt but as with any kid you have to indulge them sometimes and make them feel special as that is when you earn their trust and they want to succeed for you.

Yesterday was a culmination of all the shit Martial has had to put up with, he looked like he couldn't give two shits and I think like with Shaw it's a case of - probably best for both parties to go their separate ways. Martial should go to a club where he will be guaranteed to develop as a striker or at least under a manager who will be patient with him and focus on expanding his attacking Arsenal as he is very one dimensional sometimes and Jose should go out there and get us a proper left wing forward who wants to play there and can dribble to a world class level and is much more unpredictable.

For me the straw that broke the camels back was that West Ham game where Martial looked electric and then was dropped next game. Typical bad management by Jose who when he doesn't fancy someone just purposefully tries to diminish their confidence to test them or make a point .. after that I don't think I've seen a decent game from him.

The manager is clearly staying for next season so I don't see the point of starting Martial and paying that extra 8.5m on the transfer.. just drop him and sell in the summer and get in players the manager will use properly. At the moment he's a passenger and we're so bad in attack.. we can't afford to have someone like that.

Very sad situation to see.

Bollocks. He's been a winger all his life.
He isn't a world beating talent. He is one dimensional and very predictable.

 

[K2K]

Woeful.

Like the rest of our attackers last night.

 

[Raees]

Bollocks. He's been a winger all his life.
He isn't a world beating talent. He is one dimensional and very predictable.

He is one dimensional and predictable but in his first season he had the talent to be a world beater.

It's easy to say he's lazy and doesn't want to add to his game, but I think under a more suitable manager for him, he'd have developed his game further.

 

[kouroux]

Some good points, Martial certainly is not helping himself at all. But regarding the bolded bit, I think you remember things differently to the rest of us.

The first thing Mourinho did was bring in Ibra, give him Martial's number and shift Martial to the wing. He was ultimately proven right, as Ibra's had a great season while Martial regressed. But that's no reason to change the history. He definitely wasn't trusted by Mou from the start as you claim. He has been given chances though. And bar a spell in Dec/Jan when he did well he hasn't been consistent at all.

Wasn't Martial already playing there most of last season ? What is this shift you're talking about ?

 

[Wade3]

I think he, just like almost any offensive player, suffers from our basic offensive play. If all our other wingers were clicking, it'd be a different story but the truth is, they're not.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

His game was poverty last night. Couldn't beat Appiah at all. Then what infuriated me is that he hardly went into a sprint in all of his 20-30 minute cameo. What's the point in having fresh legs if you aren't going to take advantage of them.

I'm a huge fan of his, but he needs to buck up his ideas. If he can't beat his man consistently, what good is he as a winger? He wasn't even facing a world class defender.

 

[SidRed]

The way Mourinho has managed Martial and Shaw is the biggest disappointment of his reign so far. Even when he was appointed everyone doubted his ability with young players and it is now showing why. Maybe Jose simply does better with someone like Perisic instead.

 

[sokol11]

That was a sad performance to watch. I don't get how fans can get so aggressive over what they saw last night.. all I felt was depression at how much we've ruined this potential world beating talent.

When Martial first came to the club, he dreamt of being the French R9. He wanted to play up front and in the box/his hold up play and his finishing looked top class for his age.

What did we do? To accommodate Fat Wayne, we pushed him out to the wing where he still did well but we stunted his development by basically telling him to stop moving off the ball as much, hug the touch line and just run at players time and time again. We turned him into a one dimensional player due to player politics.

Then we didn't even improve him in terms of his footwork, adding more creativity to his game - better equipping him for this left wing role and Jose coming in has been a disaster for his development as he lacks the attacking mind to coach a kid like Martial and add to his game whilst being patient with him and letting him grow into a better player. The shirt change was significant because Martial long term goal was to be a striker and the number change confirmed to him that United see him as a winger. Now I'm sure for most of us we think so what.. he should be grateful just to be at the club but for a guy who has dreamt of being a young striker and is young/immature.. it was a shock and probably made him demotivated.

You say to a young Ronaldo.. you're not gonna be a winger anymore, we're taking the 7 off you and gonna play you as a CM. Will that not kill his confidence and motivation? Of course it will. Young players are like babies, you have to be really careful with the way you handle them and yes they can be spoilt but as with any kid you have to indulge them sometimes and make them feel special as that is when you earn their trust and they want to succeed for you.

Yesterday was a culmination of all the shit Martial has had to put up with, he looked like he couldn't give two shits and I think like with Shaw it's a case of - probably best for both parties to go their separate ways. Martial should go to a club where he will be guaranteed to develop as a striker or at least under a manager who will be patient with him and focus on expanding his attacking Arsenal as he is very one dimensional sometimes and Jose should go out there and get us a proper left wing forward who wants to play there and can dribble to a world class level and is much more unpredictable.

For me the straw that broke the camels back was that West Ham game where Martial looked electric and then was dropped next game. Typical bad management by Jose who when he doesn't fancy someone just purposefully tries to diminish their confidence to test them or make a point .. after that I don't think I've seen a decent game from him.

The manager is clearly staying for next season so I don't see the point of starting Martial and paying that extra 8.5m on the transfer.. just drop him and sell in the summer and get in players the manager will use properly. At the moment he's a passenger and we're so bad in attack.. we can't afford to have someone like that.

Very sad situation to see.

For everyone looking for excuses for Martial just stop. It's not just a problem of confidence and talent but mainly attitude. If you are tasked to play as a winger be positive try to beat a man, not try three dribbles and then only pass backwards if they don't happen. And if you mess up a dribble no problem but track back and fight for the recovery of the ball like Rashford, Lingard and Mkhitaryan are doing. Martial was given 30 minutes yesterday. He didn't show any kind of hunger to show the manager that he should be starting more often. If he is not willing to fight for his place then goodbye. This is the problem with so many pampered softies in younger generation nowadays. As soon as something doesn't go their way the head drops, they down tools. No leadership, no willpower, no winning mentality. Toughen the feck up and show some fight. Just think about it imagine if you would be given a chance in European competition for 30 minutes of a match, defenders already tiring. You got to play for Manchester fuc.king United you would definitely put all you have in those 30 minutes to prove that you belong on the pitch. Martial is currently giving 25%. Mourinho challenges players to get them to play to their maximum potential. If someone isn't putting his all in he won't last long with him.

 

[AndyJ1985]

The way Mourinho has managed Martial and Shaw is the biggest disappointment of his reign so far. Even when he was appointed everyone doubted his ability with young players and it is now showing why. Maybe Jose simply does better with someone like Perisic instead.

Stop blaming the manager for players having a bad attitude. Rashford is young and he's doing just fine.

 

[SidRed]

Stop blaming the manager for players having a bad attitude. Rashford is young and he's doing just fine.

That is precisely how Jose would respond but that is not the way to bring out the best from some of these young players who need more encouragement. Even SAF alluded to this when he said he had to change his way of dealing with the new gen players.

 

[MadMike]

Wasn't Martial already playing there most of last season ? What is this shift you're talking about ?

I remember him playing as a left forward more than a left winger. He used to end up in far more central positions from what I recall. Now he never seems more than 5 yards from the touch line, he's playing like Giggsy used to play.

 

[kouroux]

I remember him playing as a left forward more than a left winger. He used to end up in far more central positions from what I recall. Now he never seems more than 5 yards from the touch line, he's playing like Giggsy used to play.

I don't see it, he still has freedom to attack centrally but with more responsabilities to track back under Mourinho. Maybe it's too much for him ? He has been shit this season. No 2 ways about it.

 

[togg]

He looked like a player who has one leg out the door. He's never been quite the same since his personal life broke into a mess, although I'm sure there are other reasons for things not working for him at the moment.