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2017-18 Performances


View full 2017-18 profile

6.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
45
Goals
11
Assists
11
Yellow cards
1
Status
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As much as the overall point is true of martial being indeed poor last season, I'd still like us to have some perspective on that.

Apart from the first month or so where martial started 6 of our first 7 games (in which he was indeed poor), he wasn't given his fair crack of the whip to establish himself unlike the leeway enjoyed by rashford.

One particular example of how Jose messed up martial's management last season was when he promised martial game time vs Hull if martial performed vs wigan. Here's Jose before the wigan match

‘But he will play Sunday and, if on Sunday he plays magnificently, he will play against Hull City in the next match. It’s simple.’
http://googleweblight.com/i?u=http:...gainst-wigan-6409903/&grqid=b0puQVce&hl=en-NG

Martial duly performed that match with 2 assists and a goal wrongly chalked off for bastian's supposed wrongdoing

So what happened to the promise of game time from the manager afterwards? Martial didn't even get a single lick of a minute while Rooney, mata and smalling were introduced ahead of him much less him starting the match, I wonder if 2 assists doesn't qualify for "magnificence" in the manager's books. How can one stay motivated to play and put in his best subsequently if he can't trust his manager to be fair to him and give him his just rewards?

Compare that with rashford going about 20 matches without scoring in the league from September to April but was still in the manager's good books

Of course we can all sit here and talk about martial not giving his all, being affected by off the field issues and what not but the truth of the matter is that he wasn't given the chances and backing to fully cement his place and it is telling that per minutes he was our most productive attacking player bar zlatan in his "poor season"

You might say all that was last season but just this supercup against Madrid we were looking for a goal with a spare sub to use but still Jose doesn't turn to the man who ripped Madrid apart just mere weeks earlier, that's not building up a player.. It's plain injustice.

Martial has played himself back into the team and forced Jose's hand at the moment and I refuse to give credit to him for the boy's displays this season. I just hope martial can force his way into regular starting berths but one thing is for sure, it won't be because of the manager's handling or some grand master plan of his.. It will be because of martial's talent alone and not the manager's trust/backing

Martial's form this season being some Mourinho masterplan is totally bullshit I agree with you there, but I really feel Martial should bear some responsibility for his last season form. Anyway thats in the past now, but its just getting more and more obvious that Mourinho does not rate the guy when you really think about, especially with the instances you've given. Hope he doesn't frustrate him out of the club
 
Martial's form this season being some Mourinho masterplan is totally bullshit I agree with you there, but I really feel Martial should bear some responsibility for his last season form. Anyway thats in the past now, but its just getting more and more obvious that Mourinho does not rate the guy when you really think about, especially with the instances you've given. Hope he doesn't frustrate him out of the club

I agree with you, martial should bear responsibility for his poor showings last season and you'll get no argument from me there

The point of my post was to highlight how with the manager's backing he would have turned the season around like rashford did but he got no love from Jose even after playing his part with the wigan performance and the boro one @Santoryo mentioned. How could he change the narrative when he wasn't getting on the pitch enough to turn things around? That is where I'll absolutely lay the blame at the manager's feet as prior to the end of the season rashford was having just as a poor a season as martial with the difference being one got the chance to wipe off his bad displays from memory whilst the other didn't, simple.

If Martial didn't put in stellar performances like the wigan one then I would have blamed him totally for that season but he played his part in turning things around with no support to actually cement it, so for his poor displays martial has no one to blame but himself but for when he wasn't getting on the pitch on the back of good performances then you'll have no one to blame but the manager
 
If the stats are correct, Rashford only started 3 more games than Martial last season :lol:.

Come on guys, get off Mourinho's back. Some of the stuff being posted is weird.
 
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As much as the overall point is true of martial being indeed poor last season, I'd still like us to have some perspective on that.

Apart from the first month or so where martial started 6 of our first 7 games (in which he was indeed poor), he wasn't given his fair crack of the whip to establish himself unlike the leeway enjoyed by rashford.

One particular example of how Jose messed up martial's management last season was when he promised martial game time vs Hull if martial performed vs wigan. Here's Jose before the wigan match

‘But he will play Sunday and, if on Sunday he plays magnificently, he will play against Hull City in the next match. It’s simple.’
http://googleweblight.com/i?u=http:...gainst-wigan-6409903/&grqid=b0puQVce&hl=en-NG

Martial duly performed that match with 2 assists and a goal wrongly chalked off for bastian's supposed wrongdoing

So what happened to the promise of game time from the manager afterwards? Martial didn't even get a single lick of a minute while Rooney, mata and smalling were introduced ahead of him much less him starting the match, I wonder if 2 assists doesn't qualify for "magnificence" in the manager's books. How can one stay motivated to play and put in his best subsequently if he can't trust his manager to be fair to him and give him his just rewards?

Compare that with rashford going about 20 matches without scoring in the league from September to April but was still in the manager's good books

Of course we can all sit here and talk about martial not giving his all, being affected by off the field issues and what not but the truth of the matter is that he wasn't given the chances and backing to fully cement his place and it is telling that per minutes he was our most productive attacking player bar zlatan in his "poor season"

You might say all that was last season but just this supercup against Madrid we were looking for a goal with a spare sub to use but still Jose doesn't turn to the man who ripped Madrid apart just mere weeks earlier, that's not building up a player.. It's plain injustice.

Martial has played himself back into the team and forced Jose's hand at the moment and I refuse to give credit to him for the boy's displays this season. I just hope martial can force his way into regular starting berths but one thing is for sure, it won't be because of the manager's handling or some grand master plan of his.. It will be because of martial's talent alone and not the manager's trust/backing
 
If the stats are correct, Rashford only started 3 more games than Martial last season :lol:.
Yes, but that is because Martial started 6 of the last 7 league games as we were resting our first choice team for the Europa League. He mostly played with our second string. Rashford played 551 minutes more over the course of the season.
 
Yes, but that is because Martial started 6 of the last 7 league games as we were resting our first choice team for the Europa League. Rashford played 551 minutes more over the course of the season.

Ahhh that is true, I forgot about that. Although Rashford did start against Swansea & City. Rashford did well at the end of our Europa campaign though so it was correct to rest him in the league. The difference is still only 6/7 starts over a whole season. People are being very harsh on Mourinho.
 
Burton Albion and a terrible CSKA Moscow side, granted you can only perform who you play against but their clearly not the level of opposition were really going to measure him properly in the long run, ''most'' was clearly the wrong word to use. Still adamant Rashford contributes more to the team particularly defensively. For me a case in point was against Southampton away when we were completely outplayed and heavily under the cosh, Rashford put in a brilliant shift down the left side almost playing full back at times and working his socks off something I can't see Martial doing yet, this massively helped us keeping the game at 1-0.
First of all we really shouldn't have been under the cosh in that match, we were playing Southampton. If Rashford had put in such a performance against Real Madrid or Bayern I'd commend his defensive contribution but we were playing fecking Southampton.
 
What I'm trying to suggest From my posts is that his form absolutely is down to himself, good or bad. Of course there are other factors that can influence that though, be it better players, tactics or a manager's influence but at the end of the day it's on him.

I just don't agree with people who put all the blame on managers for a players form but don't give due credit if that form improves. I'm not of the opinion that Jose is solely responsible for either Martial's form from last season or his improvement this therefore I'm not in that camp.

Martial is playing much better this season and he deserves credit for that, but equally he should be held accountable for his form last season. That's effectively my point. Apologies if I couldn't portray my thoughts more clearly.

I'm with you on this. Martial had a bad season last term because of his own poor attitude and Jose, while obviously recognising what a great talent he was, didn't trust him to do the job asked of him and he rightly fell behind Rashford in the pecking order. Good management, poor from the player.

The two then clear the air in preseason, Martial has a much better attitude and plays well. Fantastic from Martial, but well done to Jose for giving Rashford and Martial the chance to shine. I don't expect either of the two players to be satisfied with the current situation, but football management is about keeping players hungry to achieve more, not comfortable with their lot.

If people want to see more of Martial and get frustrated with Jose for not playing him as much as they'd like, that is fair enough. But I take issue with anyone who says Jose is managing this situation poorly.

Smalling said he's been leading in training.
An unhappy player won't be looking and playing the way he does.
Mourinho and the player said they had a chat during preseason.
That discussion would have included how he can cement his place in the XI.

This is how I see it. Martial is a much hungrier and happier player this year, and while I'll gladly give the player the lion's share of the credit what's wrong with praising Jose's management too?
 
Really think Saturday is a day for him.

None of Liverpools defenders will want him dribbling past them.
 
It looks like he might start today. This is what I mentioned earlier. He is more suitable to games where we are expected to play on the counter. It wouldn't be a bad idea to start him today.
 
I hope he does start today , it will be a massive boost for him if he does and he makes a great match , would be really happy for him

We need him in order to make the match winnable
 
It looks like he might start today. This is what I mentioned earlier. He is more suitable to games where we are expected to play on the counter. It wouldn't be a bad idea to start him today.

I think the micro-tactical analysis has developed as a result of their rotation. Martial is suited to this game as he is a good attacking player. He's also suited to games where we need to break teams down. Basically, any game that requires an attack!

The same goes for Rashford. Both players are top young forwards and can and will contribute in a range of contexts. A player like Jesse may perhaps be a tactical option, but the other two are good enough to impact any game.
 
Starts in our biggest game of the season so far. Big show of confidence by Jose.
 
Of course those who were saying he's not trusted by Mourinho and the rotation thing is nonsense will eat their words now, right ?
 
Starts in our biggest game of the season so far. Big show of confidence by Jose.

Agree, massive backing from the manager. A big performance today and there's no going back.
 
Of course those who were saying he's not trusted by Mourinho and the rotation thing is nonsense will eat their words now, right ?

They won't. He will come off the bench against Bournemouth or something and it's back to being on his way to Barca
 
Please be good Tony!

This is a delightful surprise for me, let's hope he makes the most of it. Though I'd be perfectly happy with Martial having an average game and us winning anyway to be honest.
 
Of course those who were saying he's not trusted by Mourinho and the rotation thing is nonsense will eat their words now, right ?

I imagine they will change (eat) their words if and when Hose starts trusting him more. If that is today, then yes, people should speak differently. Doesn't mean they should have been saying that when Jose was NOT starting him.

Our player of the month is in the team. Should think so tbh.
 
Of course those who were saying he's not trusted by Mourinho and the rotation thing is nonsense will eat their words now, right ?

Puts it to bed really. He rates them both, but with Martial not being at internationals and the 343 (352) formation it makes more sense to start Martial.

Pretty much what has been blatantly obvious from the start but, people love a good conspiracy theory.
 
I'm off to the Rashford thread to incessantly complain about how he's being mistreated by Mourinho, who's with me?
 
Folks will be very happy, the golden boy is starting in the biggest game so far this season, no excuses today.

Mourinho put his money where his mouth is, hopefully Martial repays him today. Of course Mourinho doesn't want him leave, still i'd gone with Rashford.
 
A chance for Martial to really do some talking today, on the pitch rather than through his agent!
 
I imagine they will change (eat) their words if and when Hose starts trusting him more. If that is today, then yes, people should speak differently. Doesn't mean they should have been saying that when Jose was NOT starting him.

Our player of the month is in the team. Should think so tbh.

Just admit that you were over complicating things. Nothing wrong in being not right in some things.
 
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