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Anthony Martial France flag

2020-21 Performances

View full 2020-21 profile

5.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
36
Goals
7
Assists
5
Yellow cards
1
Red cards
1
Status
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Og aside he also good. Not sure where the heavy criticism comes from (well an og)

His holdup was very good and his tracking back and aggression is tenfold better and deserves credit for improving the weak sides of his game.
 
Won the penalty, OG aside he was alright. Slowly hitting form again.
 
Was probably the worst of a very good bunch today. Slowed the game down at times and allowed PSG to reorganize, frustrating in decision making, but did well to win the pen.
 
Both him and rashford weren't pressing well enough. So many times when they were both standing and watching with the ball carrier closeby.

Martial needs a foot up his ass. We are 3 games in already and he needs to move on from first gear.
 
Besides his talent, Martial is the laziest and most inconsistent striker we had in the recent history.
 
Just seen on twitter that he's not had a single shot on target yet this season. Amazing stat if true.

Needs to buck up his ideas against Leipzig and when he's back in the PL after the ban.
 
Felt for him tonight, his hold-up play was very good as was his dribbling and he won us the penalty, but all we'll hear about is the own goal or the fact he didn't score.
 
I do hope Ole sticks with 2 forwards, I think a bit of competition will bring out the best in Martial and all the other forwards.
 
Martial's game has improved a lot since he's come here. Much better hold up play and that turn was great and got us in the lead. However, he still needs to add more moves to his locker, especially when he is cutting inside on the left
 
Has too much quality not to come out of this bad spell he's in.

Hope he has another big season. Rashford is looking electric at the moment, let's hope Martial is firing on all cylinders if Rashford's form dips.

I'm hoping for around the 80 - 90 goal mark this season from Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani and Bruno.
 
Grande said:
Don’t think he was lazy. Worked better defensively than Marcus. Good overall game, but not sharp in the crucial moments, except when he made the penalty.
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He's half a second late in every action he initiates. It's a legitimate concern. A bit slow mentally without the ball at his feet.
 
Him and Rashford were the weak links in an otherwise great performance. At least Marcus scored at the right end
 
I don’t get where this idea he’s in a slump is coming from. After the Spurs game I saw people mentioning it but up until the brain fart and red card he was playing really well in that game. Tonight I don’t think he was bad either. Certainly feel like he needs to get a goal and a bit of sharpness back but again hold up play, committed people, won a penalty, had some really nice bits of play combing with others in and around the box.

overall I thought it was a decent performance Just would have liked to see him on the ball more.
 
He has this position on the pitch he looks very scary on the ball.

Its deeper than a CF that gets in behind the defence in to the box like Rashford would do.

I want to see him behind Rashford when they play.
 
Still rather rusty but damn he wins a good penalty. Pressure and rotation with Cavani should bring a more ruthlessness to his play.
 
It's the little things that aren't working for him at the moment, his one-touch passing and first touch are usually very good but they've been off. His dribbling hasn't been great. He has won two penalties in his last 2 games whilst also getting sent off and scoring an OG. He's a streaky player so I've no doubt he'll get back to his best sooner rather than later, thankfully we have other options at ST in the meantime.
 
Tormentor said:
Besides his talent, Martial is the laziest and most inconsistent striker we had in the recent history.
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He’s not lazy, and he was our top goal scorer in a season that ended about a month ago, in a strike force that out scored Liverpool’s front 3 (without penalties) in the only season he’s played upfront since his 20’s began. He’s not a machine like Ronaldo or Messi, but he’s a very good player who is probably wondering how it’s gone so wrong for him so far this season.
 
Let's support him.

After the red card and the own goal, he's jack low on confidence.

Would help more if he put more urgency and aggression to his game. I mean... look, he's not going to play at weekend thrice, the least he can do is to fully use his tank and go all out in CL. Disappointing really. That's not even over demanding - he have done it before = putting greater urgency and aggression to his game. Still off.
 
I think he should have taken the penalty himself. Clearly a bit low on confidence and a goal to break his duck could’ve helped a lot.

International duty also hurts more than it helps at the moment. Obviously he wants to keep himself in contention for the Euro but the guy hasn’t had a proper rest since the restart. Hopefully the 3 game suspension proves a blessing in disguise and he returns fresh and hungry in the league.
 
Just expect him to lose the ball every time he goes on a run now and the majority of times he does. The man loves running down dead ends. Needs a goal and quick.
 
Tbh I'm not worried about Martial, imo he's been affected a bit after the red card, then the own goal. He's not very strong mentally anyway. But we have Ole and last thing I'd worry about is Ole handling his players. He'll get back firing soon.
 
His best asset was his ability to run past players and dribble with the ball. Last night, he lost the ball countless times, so much so that everytime he received the ball I just knew he was going to lose it. He is also weak in the air.

The only slight positive thing I can get out of this performance is that he did start to hold the ball up well when Pogba came on (not saying pog coming on was a direct cause of that). I just don't know about him, this is his 6th season with us and how long do we persevere with him in the hope he eventually turns into a good striker for us? I think if at the end of this season he doesn't better his goal tally from last season of 17 goals, then we get rid of him. For now, lets hope Cavani can give him that push to evelate him, or failing that, Cavani proves to be a better option that Martial.
 
I hope his teammates are pushing him to improve, or to at least match their collective effort. Two moments in the second-half had me screaming at him.

The 65th minute and Fred is carrying the ball in the middle leading a break. Rashford is on his right and is absolutely tearing forward, sprinting at full pelt to make a run or create space for Fred. And on Fred's left? Martial is jogging like its a warm-up. The defender doesn't have to worry about him at all, because Martial isn't going anywhere. Just pathetic. You are the striker, you should be breaking your neck to get into a position to score!

Later, I am not sure of the minute. Fred and Pogba do excellently to dispossess someone right in the middle of the pitch. Pogba plays it into Martial right outside the box. He takes a touch... does nothing.... dithers.... looks up..... does nothing..... and finally is easily brushed aside and PSG is back on the attack. I just don't understand it. You are 18 yards away from goal man. Why are you acting like you have all day? Where is the urgency?

Four games in and 0 goals and 0 assists. If its true that he has 0 shots on goal, then I struggle to see why he should play at all. What does he offer?
 
He's infuriating to watch at times. When he's in the box, he makes very little movement for our wingers. He should learn a thing or two from Cavani.
 
eire-red said:
I'm hoping for around the 80 - 90 goal mark this season from Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani and Bruno.
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Bruno will have at least 20, maybe more with our high number of penalties earned. So 60+ goals from 4 strikers combined - it’s not a very high expectation
 
I've never really rated him. He's not a striker in my eyes. Atleast not the striker we need.

He has some really good qualities. He's hold up play is good and his link up play has been very good too. Also the way he won the penalty is pure class.

But, he doesnt have enough goals in him. And as a left winger I think Rashford is better. I think Cavani will be more vital than him eventually.
Or hopefully a striker like Haaland.
 
He's a world class finisher who's right up there with anyone in Europe - providing you give him the ball in a shooting position. His issue is getting himself into those shooting positions in the first place.

Think about the match against PSG where both he and Rashford played in effectively the same position. I don't want to make this post about who's better overall (because I think both have their strengths and weaknesses), but it was very telling how much more often Rashford was getting involved and how much more often he was making dangerous runs that were putting him through on goal. People can be quick to criticise Rashford for his misses - and that's certainly a valid critique at times. But it's equally valid to criticise Martial for not being the player who's getting onto those chances instead. Ideally, the two of them should be getting the same number of opportunities from open play, but the balance was actually 4 to 1 in Rashford's favour. And it's not event counting how much more often Rashford was making runs that weren't found.

As I said previously, I really don't mean this to be an argument for one being better overall than the other. But it is an illustration of what aspects of Martial's game need to be improved.

For any individual in any field, it's better for them to be present and good rather than absent and great.
 
I do think he made Rashford and Bruno look stupid with their cutbacks. At no point did he make any attempt to create a passing lane for either one and the pass was the move to make imo. Any sort of movement to get it square was a certain goal and he just didnt try.
 
Dante said:
He's a world class finisher who's right up there with anyone in Europe - providing you give him the ball in a shooting position.

But his issue is getting himself into those positions in the first place.

Think about the match against PSG where both he and Rashford played in effectively the same position. I don't want to make this post about who's better overall (because I think both have their strengths and weaknesses), but it was very telling how much more often Rashford was getting involved and how much more often he was making dangerous runs that were putting him through on goal. People can be quick to criticise Rashford for his misses - and that's certainly be valid at times. But it's equally valid to criticise Martial for not being the player who's getting onto those chances. Ideally, the two of them should be getting the same number of opportunities from open play, but the balance was actually 4 to 1 in Rashford's favour. And that's not event counting how much more often Rashford was making runs that weren't found.

As I said previously, I really don't mean this to be an argument for one being better overall than the other. But it is an illustration of what aspects of Martial's game need to be improved.

For any individual in any field, it's better for them to be present and good rather than absent and great.
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A guy like me doesnt disagree but to me he is a clear support striker or false 9.

He is better playing in that 'space' just in front of the opposition and before the box rather than being inside of it waiting for the ball to get to him because he isnt predatory enough.

Martial playing behind (ss) Rashford or Greenwood in a partnership would be only improvement to what they play like when placed in a wider partnership. Likewise in a 4231 or a 433, there are games when Ole has Rashford & Greenwood trying to play Martial in on goal with a through ball when it should be Martial deeper as a ss or false 9 playing balls in to Rashford & Greenwood.

The latter 2 are the most predatory in our young forwards whilst Martial is the most creative.
 
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