Anthony Martial image 9

Anthony Martial France flag

2019-20 Performances

View full 2019-20 profile

6.2 Season Average Rating
Appearances
48
Goals
23
Assists
8
Yellow cards
1
Status
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He is capable of being our firmino. That false 9 that has great hold up and link up playing. He causes problems by his movement, defenders don't know whether to follow him, and it allows space for off the ball runs in behind the spaces he creates.

Pogba would love it if he could get into that 10 role because he would have a lot of chances just due to how martial plays
 
InfiniteBoredom said:
Rewatch the Southampton away game in his first season.

It was evident from the start that his core strength and hold up are excellent, but Depay turning out to be shit forced LvG hands and he simply didn’t get many chances to play CF from then on.
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He's definitely improved a lot in the position since he arrived. I know his strength was always there but he wasn't this good with his back to goal.

Depay being shit isn't the only reason he's spent most of the past 4 years on the wing
 
Incredible player. That moment where he controlled a cleared ball with his back to the goal against two defenders, beat one of them in a split second and made a good shot was sublime.

I think Martial has matured as a player and is starting to use his abilities to his full potential. Hopefully stays fit and we have a potential world class attacker on our hand.
 
He's such an unselfish player and can pretty much link up well with just about anyone.

Stepped it up in the second half. Would have been nice to see him score but assists are just as fine!
 
DoomSlayer said:
Incredible player. That moment where he controlled a cleared ball with his back to the goal against two defenders, beat one of them in a split second and made a good shot was sublime.

I think Martial has matured as a player and is starting to use his abilities to his full potential. Hopefully stays fit and we have a potential world class attacker on our hand.
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That would have been some goal:drool:
 
roonster09 said:
Fantastic game, this is how 9 should play. His hold up play, link up play, composure was very good, created chances with ease and plenty of them.
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Exactly, makes such a difference when we have a player who can hold the ball and bring others into play. Just need to sort our no.10 position, which again was hopeless today, and we will see the attack start to fire with consistency.
 
Stadjer said:
Rashford just doesnt have the vision that Martial has.
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I think this is a good point.

It's not that Rashford is too selfish,it's just he lacks the awareness of his teammates at times.

But both of them played really well today.

It was exciting and,frankly,refreshing.
 
Tarrou said:
He's definitely improved a lot in the position since he arrived. I know his strength was always there but he wasn't this good with his back to goal.

Depay being shit isn't the only reason he's spent most of the past 4 years on the wing
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The reason is that he is relatively short and Mourinho thought that he was a "different" type of striker. He was always the best player with his back to the goal outside of Ibrahimovic.
 
Tarrou said:
He's definitely improved a lot in the position since he arrived. I know his strength was always there but he wasn't this good with his back to goal.

Depay being shit isn't the only reason he's spent most of the past 4 years on the wing
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‘My captain shall always play’
Zlaatan Ibrahimovic
Lukaku.

And spending 4 years on the wing improves your CF play? That’s new.
 
Tarrou said:
He's definitely improved a lot in the position since he arrived. I know his strength was always there but he wasn't this good with his back to goal.

Depay being shit isn't the only reason he's spent most of the past 4 years on the wing
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Well Mourinho had his center forwards in Zlatan and Lukaku. Martial playing on the wing during Mou's time has nothing to do with him lacking components to play as a CF such as hold up play and finishing.
 
arnie_ni said:
He is capable of being our firmino. That false 9 that has great hold up and link up playing. He causes problems by his movement, defenders don't know whether to follow him, and it allows space for off the ball runs in behind the spaces he creates.

Pogba would love it if he could get into that 10 role because he would have a lot of chances just due to how martial plays
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I'd hope not. He can be much better. Firmino is more of a creator while Martial can do it all both scoring and creating.
 
Tarrou said:
okay lads, you win - he hasn't improved as a striker at all
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He has improved as a striker but not in one of the areas that you mentioned. His workrate is better, his runs are more frequent and his finishing is more diverse but his technique on the ball, hold up play and positioning in central areas were always his main qualities.
 
KennyBurner said:
I'd hope not. He can be much better. Firmino is more of a creator while Martial can do it all both scoring and creating.
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Exactly. Martial is way to clinical to settle for just being a creator. Hopefully when Pogba returns he starts seeing chances fall on him that he can bury. Right now he's doing the creating for others but isn't seeing as much chances coming his way mostly because our midfield isn't that creative when you take out Pogba.
 
Superb today. Held the ball well, brought people into play, good vision and decent workrate. Can't expect anything more from him. Very close between him and Fred for MOTM today.
 
He deserves much better service! Love his style.

Does anyone know what Mourinho's said about him recently? I know he has a very limited idea of what a striker should be, and Martial was never that, but I just can't see why he thought Lukaku was a closer fit. The two things Martial lacks - aerial strength and a reliable temperament - Lukaku lacks too...just seems very odd to me. I'm wondering if he's surprised by how Martial's performing in the role.
 
JPRouve said:
He has improved as a striker but not in one of the areas that you mentioned. His workrate is better, his runs are more frequent and his finishing is more diverse but his technique on the ball, hold up play and positioning in central areas were always his main qualities.
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Speaking of diverse finishing, is it me or is Martial so eager to always shoot with his left now. He's so comfortable shooting left that I feel like in a few occasions he could have shifted his body a bit and gone for his signature side footed right.
 
Brwned said:
He deserves much better service! Love his style.

Does anyone know what Mourinho's said about him recently? I know he has a very limited idea of what a striker should be, and Martial was never that, but I just can't see why he thought Lukaku was a closer fit. The two things Martial lacks - aerial strength and a reliable temperament - Lukaku lacks too...just seems very odd to me. I'm wondering if he's surprised by how Martial's performing in the role.
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I think Martial's deceptively good with his head. There was a point in the second half where the ball was kicked upfield, and not only did he get his head to it - which I couldn't believe because it looked like he had no chance of reaching it - he still managed to direct it towards Rashford on the left which initiated a swift counter.
 
Brwned said:
He deserves much better service! Love his style.

Does anyone know what Mourinho's said about him recently? I know he has a very limited idea of what a striker should be, and Martial was never that, but I just can't see why he thought Lukaku was a closer fit. The two things Martial lacks - aerial strength and a reliable temperament - Lukaku lacks too...just seems very odd to me. I'm wondering if he's surprised by how Martial's performing in the role.
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To be fair to Mourinho, I suspect that it's not that he didn't rate Martial as a CF but that he saw him as a potentially great inside forward and thought that he could bring the striker from somewhere else.
 
Brwned said:
He deserves much better service! Love his style.

Does anyone know what Mourinho's said about him recently? I know he has a very limited idea of what a striker should be, and Martial was never that, but I just can't see why he thought Lukaku was a closer fit. The two things Martial lacks - aerial strength and a reliable temperament - Lukaku lacks too...just seems very odd to me. I'm wondering if he's surprised by how Martial's performing in the role.
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Lukaku’s aerial game is Jekyll and Hyde. Sometimes he can dominate defenders due to his size but most of the time he’s just naturally poor at judging the flight of the ball that he ended up being trumped by much weaker opponents.

Mourinho probably thought he could work on improving that, whereas with Martial’s natural lack of height it’d be a non-starter.
 
JPRouve said:
To be fair to Mourinho, I suspect that it's not that he didn't rate Martial as a CF but that he saw him as a potentially great inside forward and thought that he could bring the striker from somewhere else.
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By singing the chilean guy and put him on the bench?

Jose didn't like him because basically Martial didn't do the defensive work for him. That's how I see it.
 
The United said:
By singing the chilean guy and put him on the bench?

Jose didn't like him because basically Martial didn't do the defensive work for him. That's how I see it.
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I'm thinking about 2016, in 2018 Mourinho abandoned all ideas of coaching anyone.
 
I have not seen the match but from some of the English newspaper reports he didn't do anything of note. Just one of the 11 players on the pitch
Did he really play well or was he just ordinary?
 
Quiet first half but very good 2nd. Ended with 2 assists which is nice. Can tell he was a bit pissed that he didn't get on the scoresheet but good all the same. Absolutely vital he stays fit for us though, we have nobody who can replace him in what he offers.
 
KennyBurner said:
I'd hope not. He can be much better. Firmino is more of a creator while Martial can do it all both scoring and creating.
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I've wanted Martial to play as a False 9 for ages now behind Rashford & Greenwood who play in a wider partnership like Yorke and Cole or maybe like Ronaldo & Bale would have if they played as forwards together.

Martial doesn't need to play like Firminho because ultimately Martial can score much more goals than Firminho whilst Firminho can pass a bit more cleanly. The player he should actually play like is Lionel Messi when he played as a false 9.

And no, I'm not rating martial as some second coming as Messi because martial will never reach his level of quality and no other player will but martial has the ability to play from deep whilst Rashford & Greenwood create spaces around for him to really mess up the defenders the way Messi would mess up the centre of defence by straight dribbling at them or trying to make some passes.

Martial has a good dribbling ability, can pick out runs, can finish off moves and can inter link the attack whilst also holding on to the ball. If he starts learning to play from the deep now, he will slowly start getting better at making cutting edge passes as a CAM/CF & then all of a sudden martial will look like a more complete player who makes the players around him play better as well.

Martial is our false 9, a forward who can play the furthest forward but also drop very deep to take on the defenders or play the ball to other attackers - but this requires Rashford & Greenwood to play as wider CF's like David Villa & Pedro used to play but probably even a little bit more closer together.
 
He's such a great player. No coincidence that since he's returned, the goals have returned.
 
Foxbatt said:
I have not seen the match but from some of the English newspaper reports he didn't do anything of note. Just one of the 11 players on the pitch
Did he really play well or was he just ordinary?
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That doesn't do him justice. He was a nuisance going forward and imho a bit unlucky to not get on the scoresheet. His ability to stay on his feet and take control of the ball again after it gets away from him is sublime to watch. The follow through and assist to Rash was pure determination. Imho even when he has a relatively quiet game he is one of those players who can change things with a moment of magic. Hope he stays injury free for a while.
 
Played really well today. Even though he wasn't involved much in the first half, which happens to strikers, he maintained his concentration to influence the game when he was eventually more involved in the second half. Not only that, his decision making was really good, and stands out even more when contrasted with the rest of our players, who all appear to rush their play when approaching goal.
 
JPRouve said:
I'm thinking about 2016, in 2018 Mourinho abandoned all ideas of coaching anyone.
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Well in 2016 Martial was absolute crap, he'll be the first to admit it. Mourinho came in and gave him some starts on the left hand side but Martial was going through off-the-field stuff that was clearly affecting him on it. I can't blame Mourinho for how he handled Martial in his first season in charge, but the Sanchez integration was very poorly managed and he deserves all of the blame for that one.
 
Sayros said:
Well in 2016 Martial was absolute crap, he'll be the first to admit it. Mourinho came in and gave him some starts on the left hand side but Martial was going through off-the-field stuff that was clearly affecting him on it. I can't blame Mourinho for how he handled Martial in his first season in charge, but the Sanchez integration was very poorly managed and he deserves all of the blame for that one.
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I didn't blame Mourinho and what you say has little to do with my point.
 
Some of the best center forward play I've see from a united striker since Zlatan in the league cup final.
 
Hopefully when Pogba comes back into the team in that free role in no. 10 he can bring even more out of Martial and Rashford. Those 3 have the potential to create and score if given the licence to play.

I know it was against Brighton, and midweek against Partizan, who aren't top teams by any stretch, but there are more signs that it might be beginning to come together. I think we're 4 players away. A top CM, another top CB, LB and a top RW. Obviously it might take another 2/3 windows, and bringing the right players is the most important thing now.

Positive signs, but we need to sustain these performances now, especially Martial and Rashford.
 
I'm surprised to see so much praise for him today. I thought he showed how talented he is again, and how important to our attack as a unit. But he was fairly quiet for long spells, especially in the first half. Played his part in lots of moves but wasn't making things happen himself the way both Rashford and James were. I always wish he had slightly more hunger to go with his talent.

Still a 7/10 sort of performance, but in a game when we were often all over them, why wasn't it a 9/10?
 
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