I don't know if he is a better forward than Rashford
You are right. He has decent numbers for the minutes he plays and appears extremely efficient because he scored most of the shots he takes and completes most dribbles he attempts. the problem is application and effort. For someone with this talent, he will always have low numbers because he doesn't apply himself enough. for the Premier League;
Shooting -
Martial currently averaging 1.4 shots per game,
Salah avg 3.6,
Sterling and Mane attempt double Martial and this is average per game. If you only shoot when you are clean through on goal to the GKs Right or when you cut in for a shot from the left, you will have limited opps.
Also if you do not make enough runs into GS positions or stretch the FB, you will have less chances to score.
Like I said in previous post, you used per game which skews the stats as Martial was sub in many games.
Per 90 mins stats (Shots per game)
Salah - 4.8
Sterling - 2.5
Martial 2.2
Threat - Martial currently averages 1.2 dribbles per game, Sterling 2.4, Hazard 3.7, Zaha 3.4 - if you don't take you man on and twist his ankles inside and out, then in games you do not score in (which are many), what are you actually doing to threaten the opposition exactly? why should they fear you? do you have the balls to play as an attacking wide player for Man Utd, when you consider how aggressive Giggs and Cristiano were?
Dribbles per 90 mins
Martial - 1.8 (50% success rate)
Salah - 1.5 (45% success rate)
Sterling - 2.7 (55% success rate)
Creativity
In 27 apps Martial bagged 2 assists, from 3 big chances created, 7 through balls and 34 crosses.
In 37 apps Hazard bagged 15 assists, from 18 big chances created, 13 through balls and 145 crosses.
In 38 apps Salah bagged 8 assists, from 16 big chances created, 19 through balls and 57 crosses. Both Sterling and Sane both created 11 and 12 big chances respectively.
Goals from open play
Salah - 19 - 171 mins per goal
Martial - 9 - 180 mins per goal
Sterling - 17 - 163 mins per goal
Hazard - 12 - 243 mins per goal
Chances created per 90 mins
Martial - 2
Salah - 1.9
Sterling - 2.1
Hazard - 3
Martial played 50% of the mins Salah played, so you can calculate crosses/through balls/big changes by multiplying by 2 and around 1.7.
what it look likes is aside from the odd goal he scores here and there, he isn't really doing much, even if you factor in the minutes played. he simply is not busy enough in terms of attacking his man, creating chances, crossing etc which is why his assists are so low. He doesn't excel in terms of attempts at anything. This is why people call him lazy. not because he does not close down enough but he hardly ever attempts anything then gets subbed off having not had a shot, put in a cross or taken on his man once.
What is looks like is, you have just misused stats without taking mins player into consideration, strength of the teams they played in and most importantly you have compared Martial to the best players (arguable best 3 players) in the league and trying to draw some conclusions based on that. If you compare any player to the best players, their stats won't look good.
Some people say if you play him for 50 games straight he'll score 25 goals, but he simply will not as he isn't aggressive enough in his quest for goals, both in shooting and getting into scoring opportunities.
he is far behind the leading attackers in the league and when people blame his teammates, Martial was probably the only player who did not see a major improvement when Ole arrived. All the others showed something.
Sure you may have a bit of skill here and there, score the odd worldie, do a nice run once every few games but do you have the balls to play for Man United? that is what I would like a psychologist to ask Martial.
He takes as many shots as Sterling per 90 mins and 1 less than Hazard. Problem is not Martial's ability on the ball, it's what he does off the ball and that's where he should improve big time.
He won't score 25 goals and then
Hazard never scored more than 22 in a season and he takes shit loads of penalties
Salah didn't score 25 goals from open play, he scored 25+ goals once in his career
Sterling scored 25 goals for the first time in his career
Sane never scored 25 goals in his career
Gareth Bale scored once in his career.
Robben never scored 25 goals in his career
Ribery never scored
Mane scored once last season and he scored couple of penalties, otherwise even he would have been in 'never scored' category
Son never scored
How many wingers even score 25 goals except Messi and Ronaldo (who don't even have fix position)
Problem is his off the ball work and your expectations. Comparing him to the best players and saying he is falling short or saying he won't score 25 goals when most wingers don't score as many goals.
He has weakness, there is no argument on that from myside. He isn't aggressive and his work rate is not good enough but on the ball he is good and his numbers are very good.