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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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Robbie Boy said:
The hypocrisy. Why all the hate for Martial? Pathetic. If anyone said that about Lingard you would be labelling them all sorts.
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I don't understand it too. Jose had clearly given up on the match and played a weakened team. All players were sitting way to deep and we did not have Blind who can spot runs from deep. He had just zero support, so how was he going to score.

Were the midfielders slipping him delecious through balls, NO. Were we building up constant pressure to score goals, NO. We were not even showing any attacking intent before being forced to venture ahead because of the goals.

If Cristiano Ronaldo had been put in such a negative setup he would have had a physical confrontation with Mourinho. Imagine having all this talent and being made to play like Salomón Rondón for West Brom.
 
Blatantly not done as well as everyone hoped this season, but he's clearly had issues adapting to Jose, and whilst he is frustrating as hell at times just now I do think he has turned a corner recently, reckon he'll be one of our best players next season.
 
GM K said:
And playing in a negative team is why he gave the ball away for the second goal? Interesting.

Rashford certainly did not play like he was part of a negative team.

Too many excuses for Anthony.

The truth is that he is having a very poor season by his standards and it has nothing to do with playing in a negative team or not being played as center forward.
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Rashford came on when we were actually trying to attack so of course he'd look better. I'm not saying Martial was flawless but the system we played hindered not only him, but our whole attack.

As for his season, I've never said otherwise. I've been incredibly disappointed. And, for what it's worth, I prefer Martial on the left rather than up front. Have done since he arrived.
 
pocco said:
That was a good performance by Lingard? It seemed like all he did was lose the ball.
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He does that quite a lot in most games. But his off the ball movement is great, so maybe he's wants rid of the ball as quickly as possible so he can get back to playing to his strengths?
 
Robbie Boy said:
As with every other player, he deserves criticism. I didn't see the game today but I caught about 5 minutes late in the first half and the commentators were actually praising him. But from reading on here, it appears he had a poor enough game but I can only imagine he was starved of service. Nothing new there.

He's been poor this season in contrast with last season but I also feel he's a victim of his own success from last season and is sometimes harshly judged. He's often been dropped after a poor performance whereas others get away with similar performances week-after-week.

Unless anyone believes his brilliant debut season was a fluke, why the actual feck would you want to get rid of him? If he was put up for sale, you'd be sure there would be plenty of interest as he's a very good talent. He certainly needs to improve next season but he's had a difficult second season, it happens.
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He had some moments in first half.
 
He was terrible today, but trust the caf to blame Mourinho and his teamates not giving 'service'. Rashford came in and in a few minutes went past a defender and put in a dangerous cross, something Martial couldn't manage all game. There's no tactic in the world that makes a player not able to make simple passes,even backward ones like the under hit pass he gave which led to the second goal, or failing in every dribbling attempt for the past few games. His incosistent performances have been getting more and more frequent and today was probably one of the worst I've seen him play.
 
Was awful today, along with Rooney, and Mikhi, none of them have the excuse they're tired.
 
Dobbs said:
When he had support for the first 30 mins he was good. When the whole team dropped back 20 yards he struggled. It's as if the two are linked.
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I still don't understand how people don't see this.
 
Did ok, wasn't his fault as most of the time was isolated and they System doesn't suit him. More quality in the team will see the best out of him and Miki.
 
Phil Jones 79 said:
Thought Martial did well first half,played with spirit and determination. Second half the game passed him by a bit.
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I think the real issue here is why that happened in the second half? This isn't limited to Martial, every one of our attackers had had this happen numerous times this season. It's not about Martial, he actually looked lively and focused i thought today. But what can be do when he's touching the ball once every 10 minutes.
 
Rooney also really hurt his game today as when he made the runs, he really struggled to find him. Without Pogba our counter attacking play is terrible.....
 
pocco said:
I think the real issue here is why that happened in the second half? This isn't limited to Martial, every one of our attackers had had this happen numerous times this season. It's not about Martial, he actually looked lively and focused i thought today. But what can be do when he's touching the ball once every 10 minutes.
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Yes because Manchester United is going to dominate the ball and recycle posession to Martial in every match they play. Players worth their salt make the most of the times they get the ball.

I like Martial but the excuses people make for him are ridiculous. It's as if some are scared to admit he might not be as good as we thought. If he needs all these specific scenarios to perform, it raises questions about just how effective he is.

He was playing as a striker and ultimately he didn't perform, looked sluggish, was regularly holding onto the ball for far too long, was running into Arsenal defenders instead of releasing the ball to United players right next to him etc.

He has been shite and it's no-one's fault but his own. Rashford came on and caused them more problems in a few minutes than Martial managed all game.
 
Womp said:
Yes because Manchester United is going to dominate the ball and recycle posession to Martial in every match they play. Players worth their salt make the most of the times they get the ball.

I like Martial but the excuses people make for him are ridiculous. It's as if some are scared to admit he might not be as good as we thought. If he needs all these specific scenarios to perform, it raises questions about just how effective he is.

He was playing as a striker and ultimately he didn't perform, looked sluggish, was regularly holding onto the ball for far too long, was running into Arsenal defenders instead of releasing the ball to United players right next to him etc.

He has been shite and it's no-one's fault but his own. Rashford came on and caused them more problems in a few minutes than Martial managed all game.
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Even the commentators on sky were praising him today. Especially in the first half. And that is bollock about Rashford today, what did he do that Martial didn't?

I'm not saying Martial was perfect as he was quiet in the second half, but like i did he wasnt getting on the ball as much and Arsenal did what city did by pressing more to pin us back. This meant that Martial had 3 players on him when he did get the ball. It was the same for Rashford against City once they decided to do what they should have always done and pressured us.
 
Amar__ said:
:wenger:

What exactly United gains by selling talented young player to club that suits him? Incredible.
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Don't cut off the rest of my post, where I say he is not a Mourinho type of player. He may be young and talented, but he doesn't have the qualities we need. Better to sell him while he still has some value.
 
The performance he put in today was similar to the one Rashford put in against City. None of which was their fault because in both games Mourinho parked the bus leaving the striker desperately isolated. But what is funny is the double standards in critiquing the performances.

Lad had a decent game today. When the ball was played at feet or over the top he was always alert and showed good running. Had a half chance that would have been a proper chance if Rooney put the right weight on the pass. If you hoof it up to him while surrounded by 3 defenders, there's not much he can do. Simples.
 
pocco said:
Even the commentators on sky were praising him today. Especially in the first half. And that is bollock about Rashford today, what did he do that Martial didn't?

I'm not saying Martial was perfect as he was quiet in the second half, but like i did he wasnt getting on the ball as much and Arsenal did what city did by pressing more to pin us back. This meant that Martial had 3 players on him when he did get the ball. It was the same for Rashford against City once they decided to do what they should have always done and pressured us.
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I really don't think he was that good, even in the first half. What did he do of note? Except that one run in behind (which was impressive)? He had good moments but ultimately was dissapointing. If I had a dollar for every time he tried running through 15 Arsenal players camped in the middle of the pitch, instead of passing to Mkhitryan out wide in space, running head first into them and losing the ball.

Rashford came on and was alternating positions, was at least trying to attack space, wasn't standing around static waiting for the ball into his feet when we were clearly being pushed back.

Fact of the matter is, going forward, especially if we want to compete for European honours, we're not going to dominate every game we play, that's why the top players make the most of the opportunities they get. Would you be okay with Martial being ineffective because Barcelona were dominating us and pinning us back? Bayern? Juventus were pinned back over two legs against Barcelona but managed to win by making the most of the chances they got. Atleti have won a La Liga title and made two CL finals in recent years by having a team that adopted a pragmatic approach that makes our football look like peak Barcelona. This narrative that he needs a beautiful flowing system to look even half good is worrying. What's more worrying is this isn't even a new thing for him, many a time he's been up against isolated defenders this season only to feck it up by being over indulgent, or generally just not being very good. If tactics really are to blame, why has he been just as poor in games where we were on the front foot? I can count on my hands the games I can remember in which he dominated as we know he can.

This is coming from a big fan of Martial, in fact I've bought his jersey twice now, but he really needs to step up. It's either a case of he really isn't that good after all, or he isn't performing and it's his fault alone. We were dominated and pinned back under LVG in certain games too, yet Martial was still influencing games, I don't see the same technical, fast and eager player this season. He ended last season poorly, was abysmal at the Euros and has largely looked poor this season, can hardly blame tactics for everything, sometimes we need to look at the bigger picture. He looks very sloppy.
 
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Womp said:
I really don't think he was that good, even in the first half. What did he do of note? Except that one run in behind (which was impressive)? He had good moments but ultimately was dissapointing. If I had a dollar for every time he tried running through 15 Arsenal players camped in the middle of the pitch, instead of passing to Mkhitryan out wide in space, running head first into them and losing the ball.

Rashford came on and was alternating positions, was at least trying to attack space, wasn't standing around static waiting for the ball into his feet when we were clearly being pushed back.

Fact of the matter is, going forward, especially if we want to compete for European honours, we're not going to dominate every game we play, that's why the top players make the most of the opportunities they get. Would you be okay with Martial being ineffective because Barcelona were dominating us and pinning us back? Bayern? Juventus were pinned back over two legs against Barcelona but managed to win. This narrative that he needs a beautiful flowing system to look even half good is worrying. What's more worrying is this isn't even a new thing for him, many a time he's been up against isolated defenders this season only to feck it up by being over indulgent. One game against Burnley unfortunately hasn't changed my outlook on his season.

This is coming from a big fan of Martial, in fact I've bought his jersey twice now, but he really needs to step up. It's either a case of he really isn't that good after all, or he isn't performing and it's his fault alone. We were dominated and pinned back under LVG in certain games too, yet Martial was still influencing games, I don't see the same technical, fast and eager player this season. Looks very sloppy.
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In the first half he was pressing Arsenal defenders, running off their shoulder and linking up play well.

Off the top of my head i thought he did particularly well in a few situations. He drew a few fouls with his dribbling, showed good hold up play, he nearly started a good counter by outmuscling an Arsenal player but conceded a handball off his shoulder, the run in behind was good because the ball from Rooney was poor but he used pace and strength to get on the ball and still forced a save. Nothing groundbreaking but for a lone striker i actually thought he put in a solid effort in the first half.

In the second half he went long periods without the ball, made some wrong decisions where he lost the ball but still held the ball up well at times and drew more fouls with his dribbling which relieved pressure on us. Under the circumstances, which is important, it wasn't a bad performance for me.

I'm also a big fan of his but have got in many arguments this season because I've been critical of him. I didn't think today was one of his bad performances and i think he's looked a lot better in recent weeks, though still not close to his level last season. I hope to see Martial back to his best next season.
 
He and the team didn't take advantage of there high line early on, needed Pogba to put a few balls in behind.
 
Wilson Litchmore said:
Rooney also really hurt his game today as when he made the runs, he really struggled to find him. Without Pogba our counter attacking play is terrible.....
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Let's blame Rooney. After all, he headed a ball over, shot two over and shot one at Cech beside the free kick that Cech saved. What other attacker did anything remotely close to that. They couldn't even match fat Shrek.
 
darko said:
Let's blame Rooney. After all, he headed a ball over, shot two over and shot one at Cech beside the free kick that Cech saved. What other attacker did anything remotely close to that. They couldn't even match fat Shrek.
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Maybe but they weren't wearing the captains armband or paid over 200k because he's suppose to be one of a few that can make difference when it counts.......
 
Felt sorry for him. We tried to play him like he was Zlatan rather than Martial. We needed to play to his strengths but we failed to do it outside of a few times trying to exploit Arsenals high defensive line.
 
Sylar said:
Felt sorry for him. We tried to play him like he was Zlatan rather than Martial. We needed to play to his strengths but we failed to do it outside of a few times trying to exploit Arsenals high defensive line.
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Yea, but for some reason every CF should be a target man type here.

If we had Pogba we'd probably have a goal or two in the first half with the way they were playing. Maybe Martial wasn't quick enough, in that case rashford would've done. I hope he doesn't get frustrated with defensive duties, fruits of his labour will come.


Whatever gap game we have (to the final) Jose needs to figure out how to make a martial rashford combo work. They are definitely our best available attacking threats that are fully fit
 
Wilson Litchmore said:
Maybe but they weren't wearing the captains armband or paid over 200k because he's suppose to be one of a few that can make difference when it counts.......
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It's good thing DDG didn't have the armband otherwise, you'd have expected him to score. Martial was the main striker. Also, if we want to talk about money Rooney cost £25.6 million and has been a great value. Martial, on the other hand, cost a minimum of £36 million. We'll wait and see how much value he is.

The highest paid Swansea defender makes £22,50,000. Martial makes about triple that. What was Martial's difference in that match? He also makes three times as much as Rashford.

For the fees that most of these players cost and also for what they get paid they should all be difference makers.
 
The new scapegoat, which is a testament to Jose and his propaganda, amazing work. The only time we tried to create something in the first half, he got a shot away that Cech saved, Rooney's chance came because he pressed a defender. After that we just sat back, defended and played it long to him. It was the same performance as Rashford against City. But it's become the fashionable thing to blame him, because Jose said a few things, that's fine. It happened last season with Chelsea, managed to convince the fan base that Hazard was lazy, did it with Mata before that. Martial is class, proved it at Monaco, proved it at United last season. If a player has proved himself at this club, I'm more inclined to support them when things are not working well, those of you that think he should be sold are a disgrace and know nothing about football.
 
I hope this season is just him being tired after being overplayed last season, as well as the Euro. Towards the end of last season he wasn't as energetic or explosive, which while expected but it seems to continue for very much of this season. He did show glimpses of it at times but wasn't consistent enough.

Hope Mou will be patient with him, and after a good summer break and pre-season with the team, Tony would be back to his best, including the likes of Pogba and Mkhi. With Mkhi, I kind of half expected him to struggle, first season struggles and whatnot. He was struggling with Dortmund at first too.
 
legball said:
The new scapegoat, which is a testament to Jose and his propaganda, amazing work. The only time we tried to create something in the first half, he got a shot away that Cech saved, Rooney's chance came because he pressed a defender. After that we just sat back, defended and played it long to him. It was the same performance as Rashford against City. But it's become the fashionable thing to blame him, because Jose said a few things, that's fine. It happened last season with Chelsea, managed to convince the fan base that Hazard was lazy, did it with Mata before that. Martial is class, proved it at Monaco, proved it at United last season. If a player has proved himself at this club, I'm more inclined to support them when things are not working well, those of you that think he should be sold are a disgrace and know nothing about football.
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Good post.

Well, except the "....disgrace and know nothing about football part". That's too harsh.
 
DizeeGorilla20 said:
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It had to, people are acting surprised that a young attacking player is struggling in his second season in the "toughest league in the world" and wanting him sold because of a few comments by Mourinho and the alternative has been to pick Lingard, and many have justified that shambolic decision because Lingard runs a lot and has "passion", whatever that means. Nothing wrong with criticizing Martial or any player, but the constant moaning and scapegoating of a player that was tearing it up only last season is annoying me..
 
legball said:
The new scapegoat, which is a testament to Jose and his propaganda, amazing work. The only time we tried to create something in the first half, he got a shot away that Cech saved, Rooney's chance came because he pressed a defender. After that we just sat back, defended and played it long to him. It was the same performance as Rashford against City. But it's become the fashionable thing to blame him, because Jose said a few things, that's fine. It happened last season with Chelsea, managed to convince the fan base that Hazard was lazy, did it with Mata before that. Martial is class, proved it at Monaco, proved it at United last season. If a player has proved himself at this club, I'm more inclined to support them when things are not working well, those of you that think he should be sold are a disgrace and know nothing about football.
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The thing is, it might very well be Martial who wants to go. He definitely hasn't looked that happy this season, regardless of the reasons.
 
I thought he was the best of our starting forwards yesterday. That might not be a very impressive title, but he's still looking better than he was at the start of the season, when he was starting games. Which is a good sign.

I don't know if he wants to leave, or whether Mourinho would want to fight to keep him, but if he's with us next season, I think he'll be a better player than this season. If he isn't a better player, wherever he playing, then I certainly won't think it's a management issue, I'll think it's down to him.
 
I'm not sure how you can blame him when the manager himself took a loss as an acceptable option before stepping onto the field. That was one of the more embarrassing United performances from top to bottom just in terms of attitude.
 
togg said:
The thing is, it might very well be Martial who wants to go. He definitely hasn't looked that happy this season, regardless of the reasons.
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That's a fair point, but his facial expressions has not changed from last season. He always looks serious, that's his default, and he's not chatty like Herrera, he's a quiet lad, I really don't know if he's happy or not, but we can't make that judgement by his facial expressions.
 
He's 22 and one of our most exciting players. Games like yesterday, with those unforgivable tactics, don't do him any favours. I'd hate to see him go in the summer, but agree he can be frustrating at times.
 
Djemba-Djemba said:
Today he was triple marked so it was difficult.

He's been a huge let down though this season. So poor on numerous occasions.
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We really need to get players who teams will fear going forward to help him. More or less every game this season teams have been able to double mark him as our full backs aren't fantastic in attack and the other attacking players have been inconsistent. Adding players to our attack that don't allow teams to double mark him will mean he's one on one with a defender each game which is were he'll be at his best again.
 
darko said:
It's good thing DDG didn't have the armband otherwise, you'd have expected him to score. Martial was the main striker. Also, if we want to talk about money Rooney cost £25.6 million and has been a great value. Martial, on the other hand, cost a minimum of £36 million. We'll wait and see how much value he is.

The highest paid Swansea defender makes £22,50,000. Martial makes about triple that. What was Martial's difference in that match? He also makes three times as much as Rashford.

For the fees that most of these players cost and also for what they get paid they should all be difference makers.
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I apologise but I thought that's was the difference between a young lad who's been here a couple of seasons and a player who been here for many years and who is in the side cause of his experience at those big moments in games? That was the marker for me and not sure what relevance Swansea has to do with it....
 
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