@Damien yea that's it 
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 45
- Goals
- 11
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 1
- Status
Absolute fecking state of this thread.
The suggestion that his assist last night was a 'half shot' is one of the most impressively stupid remarks I've read on here in five years of posting.
The suggestion that his assist last night was a 'half shot' is one of the most impressively stupid remarks I've read on here in five years of posting.
His dribbling wasn't up to his usual standards but I thought his movement looked an awful lot better last night than it has previously. He made some great runs in behind that weren't spotted and a couple that were and almost lead to goals and moved into the central space Lukaku made quite intelligently rather than just hanging out on the wing looking for the ball to feet.
Yeah, Mourinho mentioned working on tactical stuff in Dubai as there hadn't been time during the season to do so. I think that would have been one of the things worked on - and him not tracking back as much would have been a tactical instruction as well. If Mourinho wasn't happy with what he was doing, Martial would have been subbed off a lot earlier.
Yeah I agree. I cannot understand those suggesting that he played badly. Okay a few things didn’t pay off, his touch wasn’t always good and he wasn’t as effective dribbling as he usually is, but he buzzed around and caused danger, got in very good areas, could have scored another and generally made a nuisance of himself. As had been said, if a goal and an assist can come from a ‘poor’ game, we should be very pleased. He’s clearly improved from where he was, and now that he’s starting regularly, that’s set to continue.
Yeah I'm with you. It is freaking laughable how some people see the pass from Martial as failed shot or some kind of a fluke. They prob haven't touched a football in real life.
I was in the ground yesterday and the crowd in my vicinity was palpably underwhelmed by him - as was I.
His movement has improved and he did make some good ones that just weren't picked up and ofcourse the goal and assist were exceptional, but overall, he made me wish we had Sane who actually gets somewhere with his dribbling, as opposed to easily nullified like Martial.
His movement has improved and he did make some good ones that just weren't picked up and ofcourse the goal and assist were exceptional, but overall, he made me wish we had Sane who actually gets somewhere with his dribbling, as opposed to easily nullified like Martial.
Interestingly, his last 3 goals have been from outside the box, something he's clearly improved on this season.
Was struggling a bit at times, but you can't argue with goals! 
Didn't think he had the best of games, but was good nonetheless. Great goal too.
Utterly ridiculous comments on Martial. If you do not see his talents and the way he plays then you cannot see anything. Every time he gets the ball he gets double tagged with two defenders on him. Now that leaves space for others to use that space. can he improve? Of course he can and he will. He tracks back a lot now and seems to have a better understanding with Lukaku than Rashford.
And what is a half shot?
And what is a half shot?
Nullified? By who exactly? He's given most right backs a torrid time this season. Also he has more goals and assists per minute than Sane.... You might say Sane is still the better player for other reasons. But to make out Sane gets somewhere with his dribbling but Martial doesn't is silly.
Sane is a better winger, Martial is a better forward and more someone who will develop as that. Be it if he develops as an inside forward or right up top. But yeah. Different players with different tasks in their system. Mourinho likes his wide players coming inside and helping link up in the middle and to control games, not really hugging the touch line like Sane (where there is generally more space anyway).
LOL. Put Sane in our team out wide, he'd be running into deadends too.
I don’t think he has actually improved much since his debut season. Better than last year of course.
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Is anyone else pissed off at the pundits assertion that Mourinho doesn't trust him etc? I mean he has started all the matches for the last month or so unless he was injured.
He's on course to beat his first season goal tally inspite of the fact that he played as a striker in that season until Rashford came into picture. He has undoubtedly improved. People have ridiculous expectations of Martial which is the problem, they expect him to be a perfect package completely disregarding his age.
It's interesting to read some suggesting he isn't playing better than when he first came in. Even his last game, he admittedly had a poor game where a lot of things weren't coming off, but one thing I really liked seeing was his off-the-ball movement. It's admittedly been one of his weakest points, and a frustrating one for many on here, and yet the usually negative nancies who have used that to bash him didn't seem to notice and only focused on the negative (despite the fact that he had a goal and a clear assist in said bad game).
He made several good runs that his team mates missed where he would have been through in a dangerous position and possibly 1v1. Of course he's much better than when he first came in, and I expect him to keep improving and becoming more and more decisive even when things are not coming off like they don't for even the best players in the world at times.
He made several good runs that his team mates missed where he would have been through in a dangerous position and possibly 1v1. Of course he's much better than when he first came in, and I expect him to keep improving and becoming more and more decisive even when things are not coming off like they don't for even the best players in the world at times.
He is playing in a better team. It’s great that he has more goals and assists now. That wasn’t my point though. He isn’t that much of a better player than his debut season. He was my favourite player that year as well so it’s not supposed to be stinging criticism. It’s just that I have seen this all before from him and I don’t think he has progressed that much.
I don’t expect him to be perfect either.
I hope and pray that Mourinho has better sense than the pundits give him credit for. Martial must play as an inside forward from the left. All our best and in-form forwards/attackers must play together and no rotation crap should be forced. Better players have the tendency to form an understanding with one another. Fingers crossed.
It depends on what you're expecting to be reasonable improvement. 'He isn't THAT much of a better player' leaves a lot to interpretation. He's shown improvements on his impact on the game with the time he's given, he's now scoring even when he's having an off-game, his vision and off-the-ball movement is also steadily improving.
I think you're not taking into enough consideration the fact that first of all, his first season he was in a poor team of which he was one of the key players and where the game would revolve around him a lot more than it does now. There's also the added factor that defenders had no idea who he was and didn't have three years of scouting to prepare for him like they do now. His improvement isn't massive, but there's few players who have massive improvements. Sometimes you improve incrementally and then you can make a big jump (or not), but everyone hits that jump at different points of their careers.
I'm seeing enough improvements over the last three years, but I also take into acccount the different roles and responsibilities he's had between year 1 and 3 at the club.
Very balanced and reasonable assessment of Martial time here , he has clearly shown steady progress this season for sure but in his last few games he seems to slackening a bit hopefully consistency would come with greater experience and higher focus another thing which goes against him is his very good debut season so expectations are always sky high and he is judged accordingly.
He had a problem with his missus. I had a toxic relationship before and it really took me out of my focus from my job. Granted I'm 28 and dealing it with steady head, Martial is 21 when he had that emotional breakdown.
It's a case of grass greener.
Yeah it had me scratching my head, especially what Carragher said. He went on all about how Mourinho lost patience with Martial which is why he's looking at Sanchez. What a bunch of absolute nonsense.
These people seemed to have missed that Martial has become a starter for about 2 months and not to mention the Sanchez deal is trying to happen because one doesn't just miss an o port unity like that when it present itself rather than Mourinho being fed up with anyone.
Martial is on course to hit at least the mid-teens for goals and assists by the end of the season, barring injuries. At 22 year old.
Putting it into context, that's the best Nani ever got for us in a single season.
Gareth Bale, at the peak of his power, in his best season to date statistically at Madrid, scored 23 goals and got 17 assists.
Wayne Rooney didn't score more than 18 league goals until Ronaldo left, and broke 30 overall only twice in his tenure with Utd.
The fact that with Martial's numbers this season and people are still clamouring for more from him is a testament in itself of the ridiculous standards he is being held to. If every other one of our attackers have the same stats as him, we'd be nipping at City's heels at the very least.
There are plenty of room for improvement from him, but it seems like people are expecting him to become Ronaldo or Messi in productivity and impact, and getting disappointed when he isn't matching that expectation.
Putting it into context, that's the best Nani ever got for us in a single season.
Gareth Bale, at the peak of his power, in his best season to date statistically at Madrid, scored 23 goals and got 17 assists.
Wayne Rooney didn't score more than 18 league goals until Ronaldo left, and broke 30 overall only twice in his tenure with Utd.
The fact that with Martial's numbers this season and people are still clamouring for more from him is a testament in itself of the ridiculous standards he is being held to. If every other one of our attackers have the same stats as him, we'd be nipping at City's heels at the very least.
There are plenty of room for improvement from him, but it seems like people are expecting him to become Ronaldo or Messi in productivity and impact, and getting disappointed when he isn't matching that expectation.
He has improved, more than anything his shooting has improved and it's very clear.
The comments are just ridiculous. Martial has been our attacking player involved in most amount of goals & chances yet he's only played half the available mins. Let that concept sink into your heads before you criticize the 22 yr old. Statistically he's the most efficient forward and yet we mistake his efficiency and desire to play with the ball at his feet for "lazyness". Do we criticize Messi, Hazard, or Sanchez for making off the ball runs? No because they spend a majority if their time creating with the ball at their feet. Martial is no different and the performances we are getting from him so far are at the level we should expect from a young star, who's forced to play defense, and spent most the season with limited FB support. Sure he can be sharper with his decision making & positioning, but he's still 3-4 yrs. from his prime!
Criticizing his last game is just stupid. He delivered a goal and an assist. If Rashford had done that everyone would have been jumping up and down. Also people criticizing the assist have 0 football intelligence. It was incredibly smart for Martial to notice the small LB as the last man defending Lukaku. He notices it and rifles the ball in which was the only way to get it that. Doing so resulted in a goal which will help Lukaku's confidence and benefit us in the next stretch.
Just because Martial can dribble past 3 players doesn't mean he has to in a game. This was actually a more refined performance from him, excellent positioning, quick decisions. Could have done better in a couple moments but so could have everyone else on the pitch. Martial is not Messi, Sanchez, Hazard. But he's definitely one of the best young wide talents in the world.
Criticizing his last game is just stupid. He delivered a goal and an assist. If Rashford had done that everyone would have been jumping up and down. Also people criticizing the assist have 0 football intelligence. It was incredibly smart for Martial to notice the small LB as the last man defending Lukaku. He notices it and rifles the ball in which was the only way to get it that. Doing so resulted in a goal which will help Lukaku's confidence and benefit us in the next stretch.
Just because Martial can dribble past 3 players doesn't mean he has to in a game. This was actually a more refined performance from him, excellent positioning, quick decisions. Could have done better in a couple moments but so could have everyone else on the pitch. Martial is not Messi, Sanchez, Hazard. But he's definitely one of the best young wide talents in the world.
He's probably had his perception skewed by Neville who has shamelessly gotten sucked into the toxic Martial vs Rashford fan mentality.
Nev got grilled the other day for tweeting he was harsher on Martial because he cost 60mil and Rashford was free.
No it isn't actually clear that his shooting has improved. He was scoring good goals in his debut season as well.
People go overboard with Martial. It wasn’t a more ‘refined performance’. He scored a great goal, but there is no need to go over the top because it wasn’t actually that great of a performance. I’m not even here to criticise him for that because it happens from time to time. Stuff like exaggerating his pass to Lukaku is weird.
Was much more in line with the rest of the team, and moving with the tempo of the game much better too. That's a much needed improvement, and we're seeing it! Did well on his own too, nice finish.
Maybe for you it isn't.
I dont see how you can make the statement that he has CLEARLY improved his shooting. He had good shooting to start with but it’s still about the same level.
There is nothing clear about it.
His off the ball movement and shooting has considerably improved from his first season IMO. He is a better player now.
No, his shooting wasn't as good from distance.
If his shooting was always this good and his dribbling was always this good, it means we got a player who was very technically polished from a young age. With technically polished youngsters the biggest areas for improvement are intangible aspects like decision making, vision, general understanding etc
Well I have always said he was talented and was a great dribbler but it was other things holding him back.
There are things that could hold him back like his mentality but he's already so far ahead for a 22 year old that those concerns are still a bit premature. Compared to a prospect like Rash, Martial has a much better canvas to work with
Clearly a better player than the one that arrived. If you can't admit that, then there is no discussion to have.
Was it you who kept arguing that back then Martial was profiting from everything being focused on him in attack under LvG and in this team he struggles because that isn't the case anymore? If so then you've now changed the argument the other way around now that he is doing better which is of course unfair.
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