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Anthony Martial France flag

2018-19 Performances


View full 2018-19 profile

5.5 Season Average Rating
Appearances
38
Goals
12
Assists
3
Yellow cards
2
Status
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Basically will be here til hes 29.5 then, 6.5 years with that option. And at that point he'd probably extend further if all goes well. Very realistic he stays here for the bulk of his playing career as long as we want him! Great news. Now time to kick on and become that world class player we know he can be.
 
He's at his best in the space between the LB and LCB. The more he touches the ball the better he is. First of all, I don't think he is good enough at pressing from the front, harassing CBs to play CF for most managers in a team that looks to press from the front. Admittedly, we don't have a sample to choose from.
However, I think he's an inside forward. A kind of mixture between Neymar and Dybala. Neither are CF, play on the inside and play it differently.
I don't see any problems playing him as part of a roaming front three as long as that front three are allowed to stay up the pitch.
I've said it many times, Martial is being hampered because of the lack of a RW. The reason Mourinho and Ole have told him to stay wide is beacue he's the best player at the club at doing it even though it's not his natural game. He still does it reasonably well. Martial is by far the best player at the club at beating players from a standing position. The managers tell him to stay wide most of the time because that quality means up to two players are taken out of the game at any time, leaving space for others. It's been better under Ole because he's allowed Pogba to drift to those areas and Shaw has been pushed higher up, which has freed Tony at various times in games.
A proper RW does the job Tony is being asked to do allowing him more time to drift into the space where he's at his best.
Furthermore, Martial can improve in his own side of things.
Another thing is I don't really think he's done much wrong since Ole has come. With a bit more luck he has at least three more goals, three more assists and the conversation is very different.
He's not know for his pressing but he's been good at it now that it's actually part of our game plan to press from the front. Another thing that gets underrated, albeit people forgot about it from his first season and the few times he deputized at CF during the Toxic One era, is his good hold up play. He actually uses his physicality well with his back to goal and is brilliant at bringing others into play. That trait is where he differs from a Neymar-type pure inside forward. I agree with the rest of your post, especially the fact that Martial has been playing well under Ole and only unlucky with goals and assists.
 
I'm so glad he chose to stay. It was important not to break our currently reliable attack trio, it would have been a disaster. Now we can instead look forward to more fine attacks if they stay healthy. A wonderful message!
 
Very good comments from Solskjaer. Glad they are working in him making more runs. He's noticeably making more rounds since Ole came in. It needs to become natural.
Martial contract
Martial signed his contract is that a statement of intent from the club?

It’s a confirmation that we are happy, with him, we believe in him. He’s got fantastic potential, he’s had ups and downs, he’s been top scorer, he’s been developing, as a young lad moving abroad it’s not easy but he knows he’s going to stay here for the coming future and I believe in him.

How good do you think he can be?

Very good, he’s a fantastic finisher, great ability, he’s young, he’s intelligent, knows his football, I’d like him to do a couple more runs in behind but I’ve not seen many player with the quick feet and the skills in the last third as he has so we’re gonna build his career and hopefully he’ll grab the chance with both feet.

More on Martial
Mentioned Anthony had scored against Arsenal, never got to 20 goals since he got here is he capable of doing that?

Yeah, he has the capability but as I said here I’d like him to make a few more runs in behind because he doesn’t miss chances, he’s a fantastic finisher, he needs to get more chances, you’ve got to read and sniff wherever there’s a chance, maybe some scruffy goals at times, him and Marcus score loads of worldies but those tap ins and making them runs could go a long way to do that.

More on Martial
Do you think Martial has the potential to become the best in the world like Ronaldo?

Well of course that’s up to any player if you make a decision on how to develop your own career, Cristiano was the best, the way he’s changed to now, that’s part of any player you’ve got to model yourself on someone but you’ve got to have more challenges ahead of you and for Marcus and Anthony is to score more simple tap ins.

Martial and Rashford relationship
Marcus and Anthony similar in age, do you think they can feed off each other and push each other on?

Yeah, healthy competition but they can also create a relationship and get an understanding of each other because both are very good coming in off the left, if one plays central then opposite movements because they go out to in. But when they play central they go in to out so in the coming years we’ll see loads of combinations between those two.

Can you see Anthony playing centrally?

Definitely, because Anthony’s preferred position would probably be a number nine, most of them want to play through the middle, but where you put out from the start it’s more the defensive position, we want them to rotate, interchange, you’ve got to get into the box to score.
 
Not a critque of Martial this but yesterday i caught something of Alex Scott talking about Martial being transformed under Ole and now scoring goals.

I've seen a few commentators make very similar narratives but has Martial actually scored under Ole yet? He's certainly not been more prolific.

I'm sure Martial will come to improve under Ole but journalists don't half talk shite.
 
Not a critque of Martial this but yesterday i caught something of Alex Scott talking about Martial being transformed under Ole and now scoring goals.

I've seen a few commentators make very similar narratives but has Martial actually scored under Ole yet? He's certainly not been more prolific.

I'm sure Martial will come to improve under Ole but journalists don't half talk shite.

They tend to follow narratives. If I'm not mistaken, pundits used to criticize his end product when Mourinho was complaining about him, even though his end product was relatively good. Now that Ole is positive about Martial, pundits embellish his recent contributions.
 
Not a critque of Martial this but yesterday i caught something of Alex Scott talking about Martial being transformed under Ole and now scoring goals.

I've seen a few commentators make very similar narratives but has Martial actually scored under Ole yet? He's certainly not been more prolific.

I'm sure Martial will come to improve under Ole but journalists don't half talk shite.
Against Arsenal, two games ago.

But yeah they're talking rubbish. For us he has been a player who doesn't shoot much but when he does, it tends to go in or be on target more compared to other players. Under Ole he's only found the net once but under Mourinho he had a spell where he scored five league games in a row.

It sounds to me like Alex Scott is getting Martial mixed up with Rashford. Rashford scored 3 goals all season before Solskjær came in then scored 5 goals in 9 games.
 
Martial scores regardless of manager, you can't take that away from him. I'd say he's one of the best finishers in the league and easily the best in our squad. Ole said what is blindingly obvious but his fan boys would constantly deny it, the major thing he can improve on is his attacking movement. If he can improve that aspect of his game he can be a regular 20+ goals a season player. That is his next step, because he has the potential. I'm very glad he has signed a new contract, shows that he is committed to the club and wants to make it here.
 
Martial scores regardless of manager, you can't take that away from him. I'd say he's one of the best finishers in the league and easily the best in our squad. Ole said what is blindingly obvious but his fan boys would constantly deny it, the major thing he can improve on is his attacking movement. If he can improve that aspect of his game he can be a regular 20+ goals a season player. That is his next step, because he has the potential. I'm very glad he has signed a new contract, shows that he is committed to the club and wants to make it here.


I'm a Martial fanboy but I've always been of the opinion he's an incomplete player right now and needs some coaching (to be fair I feel that way about Rashford and Pogba too). The last manager didn't seem to take an interest in improving them in my opinion, rather spent more time benching them, putting them in positions they don't do well in or criticising them in the press.

Seems to me Ole has identified areas for improvement for Martial (and the other young guys) and he's working with them on the training ground everyday to get where they need to be. That's what young players need, not someone kicking off in the press when they have a bad game.
 
Interesting that Ole mentioned in the press conference that Martial would like to play more centrally and both he and Rash should get more scruffy goals. Maybe in some games he will go with a 442 with Martial and Rash up front, Sanchez / Young / new signing on the wings.

The more I see United play and listen to Ole, the more I believe Lukaku isn't in our long term plans.
 
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Against Arsenal, two games ago.

But yeah they're talking rubbish. For us he has been a player who doesn't shoot much but when he does, it tends to go in or be on target more compared to other players. Under Ole he's only found the net once but under Mourinho he had a spell where he scored five league games in a row.

It sounds to me like Alex Scott is getting Martial mixed up with Rashford. Rashford scored 3 goals all season before Solskjær came in then scored 5 goals in 9 games.
He scored against Cardiff too if I remember correctly.
 
Interesting that Ole mentioned in the press conference that Martial would like to play more centrally and both he and Rash should get more scruffy goals. Maybe in some games he will go with a 442 with Martial and Rash up front, Sanchez / Young / new signing on the wings.

The more I see United play and listen to Ole, the more I believe Lukaku isn't in our long term plans.

If Ole is in charge for the foreseeable future, Lukaku will be out on his arse before he even knows it, just as Fellaini was. Both are the complete opposite to the player Ole would want at this club.
 
Interesting that Ole mentioned in the press conference that Martial would like to play more centrally and both he and Rash should get more scruffy goals. Maybe in some games he will go with a 442 with Martial and Rash up front, Sanchez / Young / new signing on the wings.

The more I see United play and listen to Ole, the more I believe Lukaku isn't in our long term plans.

Long-term, I believe that a 442 with a diamond and Martial and Rashford as the front two will get the best of all our best players. (1) Pogba is an all-round midfielder that excels on the left of a three; (2) Rashford isn't physically built to be a single striker and likes to drift right and run into channels; (3) Martial likes to drift left, go into the middle to carry the ball and also interchange with Rashford.

I disagree that it means Lukaku has no place though, because he can fit in as the right-sided striker.
 
If Ole is in charge for the foreseeable future, Lukaku will be out on his arse before he even knows it, just as Fellaini was. Both are the complete opposite to the player Ole would want at this club.
Maybe this is just me, but I don't get that impression at all from Ole. He seems to like Lukaku and is giving him plenty of game time. He just doesn't rate him over Rashford or Martial based on form and the variety in their skillset.

I think the difference is that Ole and the club will fight to keep Martial and Rashford (as the club clearly have with Martial the past 2 years when Mou wanted to sell him). The difference with Lukaku is that it'll be up to him whether he wants to stay and fight for his place, as he most likely won't be a guaranteed starter under Ole, Poch, Zidane, Rose or anyone else we may hire.
 
Saw this on social media so im not sure how accurate it is. Its a comparison of both their careers after 104 PL appearances
51026310_2122166931172158_7066290030301413376_n.jpg
 
Saw this on social media so im not sure how accurate it is. Its a comparison of both their careers after 104 PL appearances
51026310_2122166931172158_7066290030301413376_n.jpg

That's pretty damn impressive considering the teams Martial was on compared to CR7, or how some of Martial's appearances probably don't stack up minute-wise to CR7's. I'm curious how Rashford compares when he gets to that number of appearances, he can't be that far by now.
 
That's pretty damn impressive considering the teams Martial was on compared to CR7, or how some of Martial's appearances probably don't stack up minute-wise to CR7's. I'm curious how Rashford compares when he gets to that number of appearances, he can't be that far by now.
Rashford is currently like this:

99 Appearances
25 Goals
14 Assists
233 Mins per goal
171 Shots

Just as impressive. Unsurprisingly Martial is more clinical.
 
So happy he's signed.

Wouldn't mind seeing him play up top, with Jesse and Sanchez either side to see how he fares. Gives real competition to Rashford too so they can push each other on
 
Leicester 0:1 Man Utd
He is generally quite disappointing when coming on as a sub, isn't he?
 
He is generally quite disappointing when coming on as a sub, isn't he?

I thought he played alright, some nice dribbles, got a shot off at the end. Put more pressure on then Alexis anyway.
 
His lack of intensity bothered me. It was really needed and he didn't provide it.
 
Very crucial at the end . Lost count of how many fouls he won for us.
Unlucky not to scorr
 
Did quite well. Won us some fouls. Had a decent shot on goal.

Not sure what the complains are about. What's clear is that Sanchez is not even close to him. Had he started ahead of either Sanchez or Lingard today's we'd have had a better chance of winning this convincingly.
 
Below par cameo. Could've made better decisions once or twice to put us further ahead.
 
Needs to start in place of Sanchez next game. He did what he had to when he came on, didn't really have much opportunity to do anything special at that stage of the match.
 
Didn't do much since he came on, much like Lukaku, not enough to judge him on. Hopefully he'll start the next game.
 
He is generally quite disappointing when coming on as a sub, isn't he?
Didn’t he clinch the win against arsenal from the bench in his last game? In fact, just last season the accusation was that his best role is coming off the bench. Think he was fine today. Nothing special but offered enough of a threat.
 
Thought he had a good cameo, won us multiple fouls, did some good defending, was a bit slow on the counter attack but he had no support. I'm a bit worried about our left. Sanchez is ineffective while Martial has some glaring weaknesses that haven't been ironed out in 3 years.
 
He's so good at holding on to the ball. Should've done better with some of his positions, but he's great to bring on to hold on to a lead because it's so fecking hard to get the ball off of him and he wins so many free kicks.
 
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