[MattofManchester]

He had some good moments when he got on the ball.

First half, that was rare, second half he was more involved and the amount of chances we were getting went up tenfold.

Hoping he can continue raising his level. We need him to be fit and firing desperately.

 

[NoPace]

Never has he had a more gilt edged chance to become the talisman at the club.
I don't think he has it in him to take the bull by the horns consistently. He has the talent but max effort needs to be there every game and that's his problem.

I don't think it's effort, he just seems to lack the sheer hunger for a goal that the best strikers and good poachers and target men have. Really should be in a front 2, but few play that way anymore.

Played okay today, we're better with him as a #9 than Rashford up top and Garnacho out left, which is the minimum until we get another striker. You need 2 #9s anyways, and we've got one now, he probably just needs competition, rest and the ability to come off the bench at the hour mark when we're up and playing on the counter to really be the best possible contributor he can for us, which isn't a superstar, but is still pretty damn good. Sort of like the kind of player Grealish is for City but at a different position; not spectacular, but suits the system and does most of what the manager wants from that position, suits the tempo and style of the team.

 

[Escobar]

Not involved much but scored and did not get injured, so I am happy

 

[simplyared]

7+ yrs at the club and still feeding him slack!

 

[jeepers]

Let’s pray he’s done with injuries this season, so he can find his fitness, rhythm and consistency.

 

[Plant0x84]

We need to drop the No.9 experiment I feel. He does nothing but hug the left touchline in the 2 games since WC. He’s good at holding up the ball, but he’s never in the correct position. He looks most dangerous running at defenders cutting in from left. We’d be better off with Rashy up top or trying a false 9 again.
That said glad he scored, smiley Anto is much better than moody
Anto.

 

[Borys]

I don't have any issues with his football quality, don't think anyone on similar or higher level is available this winter for us anyway. It's his injuries that are killing us.

He's still getting decent numbers to minutes played.

 

[CM]

This is from before the last two games, now we have 22 goals in nine games this season with Martial in the team for an average of 2.4..

He clearly takes our attack up a notch

Interesting stat. It just goes to show what having an actual focal point in attack can do for the team. We really need him to stay fit.

 

[AltiUn]

7+ yrs at the club and still feeding him slack!

Don’t think he needs slack, he’s been good this season when he’s played.

 

[Grande]

Don’t think he needs slack, he’s been good this season when he’s played.

Yea, I agree. Him and Rashford has been two lights up front in a season where the defence and midfield are the most improved parts of the team so far.

 

[OsloRed]

We need to drop the No.9 experiment I feel. He does nothing but hug the left touchline in the 2 games since WC. He’s good at holding up the ball, but he’s never in the correct position. He looks most dangerous running at defenders cutting in from left. We’d be better off with Rashy up top or trying a false 9 again.
That said glad he scored, smiley Anto is much better than moody
Anto.

I'd have to disagree. I think we as a team are much better with him as the 9 as compared to with Rashford in that postition. Martial is much better at holding up play and bringing others into play as a 9. And from the left Rashford is much freer to run in behind. Martial ain't perfect, but for what we are going for I think they are playing in the correct positions.

 

[Beachryan]

He's what we've got for (potentially) the next 5 months, so let's just hope he gets better. Was far too quiet last night for me, though obviously got the goal. I think he'd touched the ball once before the move that eventually ended up with his goal. If he's Haaland that's one thing, but if he's in there to stich things together, it's not great.

I don't get the feeling Bruno knows what to do with him. Feels like Bruno plays way more forward passes to other strikers we've had, not sure if that's just my poor eyes though.

Still, he looked pleased to be back, ETH clearly has some faith so it's where we are. Viva Tony!

 

[El Jefe]

Looks a bit rusty still but even an ok performance lets you know how important a player of his type is for us.

Hopefully he can get back to being sharp but that will mean he has to avoid getting injured.

 

[Plant0x84]

I'd have to disagree. I think we as a team are much better with him as the 9 as compared to with Rashford in that postition. Martial is much better at holding up play and bringing others into play as a 9. And from the left Rashford is much freer to run in behind. Martial ain't perfect, but for what we are going for I think they are playing in the correct positions.

But that’s the point. Theoretically he is better than Marcus in the 9 spot, but he keeps drifting left and then he and Marcus are falling over each other almost. He has to be better disciplined positionally was my point or we are effectively playing without a striker at all.

 

[Santoryo]

Some very odd reactions in this thread. One would think he had a stinker or something. Decent game and subbed out early due to injury management.

But that’s the point. Theoretically he is better than Marcus in the 9 spot, but he keeps drifting left and then he and Marcus are falling over each other almost. He has to be better disciplined positionally was my point or we are effectively playing without a striker at all.

This is a terrible take. He plays how ETH wants him to play which is also to drop deep and connect the play. Also where is he an Rashford getting into each others ways? It's a fluid front line so from time to time you'll find Martial drifting left while Rahford roam centrally. It's supposed to be like that.

 

[meamth]

Pretty sure he lost some agility and pace. He is not lightning quick as he was before but that is understandable when you're getting older.

He still look so fragile, better manage him properly to get the proper match fitness.

I'm trusting him to turn it up a notch. Hopefully he will.

 

[AnotherLondonManc]

Pretty sure he lost some agility and pace. He is not lightning quick as he was before but that is understandable when you're getting older.

He still look so fragile, better manage him properly to get the proper match fitness.

I'm trusting him to turn it up a notch. Hopefully he will.

Martial isn't old, he's 27! By his age profile alone, he should have several years before seeing any sort of physical decline. At his age you would expect him to be pretty close to his peak.

Granted, he's had a lot of injury issues, but I do find it funny when people refer to players in their mid twenties as football geriatrics

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He's what we've got for (potentially) the next 5 months, so let's just hope he gets better. Was far too quiet last night for me, though obviously got the goal. I think he'd touched the ball once before the move that eventually ended up with his goal. If he's Haaland that's one thing, but if he's in there to stich things together, it's not great.

I don't get the feeling Bruno knows what to do with him. Feels like Bruno plays way more forward passes to other strikers we've had, not sure if that's just my poor eyes though.

Still, he looked pleased to be back, ETH clearly has some faith so it's where we are. Viva Tony!

Anthony too. He was admittedly shit by any possible metric but it definitely doesn’t help him that when he cuts inside to cross he hardly ever has a conventional number 9 to pick out with a cross.

 

[Beachryan]

Anthony too. He was admittedly shit by any possible metric but it definitely doesn’t help him that when he cuts inside to cross he hardly ever has a conventional number 9 to pick out with a cross.

Definitely. When you watch the highlights of Antony from Ajax, plenty of assists from the inside-out cross to a striker. Played a beaut yesterday. Of course our strikers were awol. One of Antony's best skills is creating that yard from the right and whipping it in towards the back post. But given Rashford doesn't make that run from the left and Martial wants it at feet, tis definitely useless. A Haaland-type would love it though.

It's weird because you'd think Martial has had > 5 years of coaching at being a 9, someone must have showed him some videos of what 9s actually do!

 

[meamth]

Martial isn't old, he's 27! By his age profile alone, he should have several years before seeing any sort of physical decline. At his age you would expect him to be pretty close to his peak.

Granted, he's had a lot of injury issues, but I do find it funny when people refer to players in their mid twenties as football geriatrics

He has several muscle injuries and hamstrings.

That can really take away some physical abilities from a player.

I remember Martial when he was 19, taking people on was his thing, now not so much.

 

[3KDré]

9 apps 5 goals. Not bad.

 

[OsloRed]

But that’s the point. Theoretically he is better than Marcus in the 9 spot, but he keeps drifting left and then he and Marcus are falling over each other almost. He has to be better disciplined positionally was my point or we are effectively playing without a striker at all.

I'm a bit confused. You said it'd be better to play Martial left and Rashford centrally, I said I thought the opposite was better and now you say that's the point? But I might've misconstrued your original post.

As to the positional point: we have a fluid front line, and Martial is going to pop up on the wing from time to time. Rashford should then be in the middle, theoretically. At least that is what I'm seeing, but I'm no coach. I do agree that Martial is not a typical penalty box striker, but that doesn't seem to be the role he is instructed to play either. His main responsibility seems to me to be to recieve the ball and bring others into play and progress from there.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

 

[OldTrevil]

The usual tripe that Martial isnt a 9 is trying to gain foothold again, mixed in with predictions that he's past it at 27

 

[Marwood]

I just don't see it happening for him long term here.

Better than the alternative(which is currently nothing) but he came off the pitch and didn't look one bit out of breath, no sweat. Very much looked like a player who'd played at 80%. Which unfortunately is his way.

 

[UnitedRepublic]

We need line breaking passes through the middle to get him more involved, exactly what he does when he drops deep we need someone to make those rewarding but difficult passes to link with him for 1-2s or just give it to him so he can turn and involve the wingers thats really one of his specialities.

 

[OL29]

He's what we've got for (potentially) the next 5 months, so let's just hope he gets better. Was far too quiet last night for me, though obviously got the goal. I think he'd touched the ball once before the move that eventually ended up with his goal. If he's Haaland that's one thing, but if he's in there to stich things together, it's not great.

I don't get the feeling Bruno knows what to do with him. Feels like Bruno plays way more forward passes to other strikers we've had, not sure if that's just my poor eyes though.

Still, he looked pleased to be back, ETH clearly has some faith so it's where we are. Viva Tony!

Sorry but I think this is a bit of a weird criticism, if anything I think Bruno enjoys playing with him as when Martial drops deep, Bruno can run in behind. They’ve always seemed to enjoy playing together and Martial even mentioned it in an interview recently:


“We always had that connection between us and we both just have to keep working to improve it,” our no.9 told us in an exclusive interview.

“For example, he [Bruno] knows very well that I might go to take the ball at someone’s feet, and he will run deep. It’s that kind of little connection that helps you get to know the playing style of your partner. One to evolve and, two, to help the team improve.”

I also think it’s important to note that when Rashford went upfront he was hardly involved too, which is no coincidence. We’ve struggled with getting our CF involved for years no matter who plays there so hopefully this is something Ten Hag is working on.

 

[Santoryo]

I just don't see it happening for him long term here.

Better than the alternative(which is currently nothing) but he came off the pitch and didn't look one bit out of breath, no sweat. Very much looked like a player who'd played at 80%. Which unfortunately is his way.

I'll give this to you, you lots are relentless. I kind of admire that never give up attitude.

Also how could you tell someone was sweating or not from that rain that was puting yesterday?

And any professional player looking out of breath after 60 minutes should be cause for concern.

 

[crossy1686]

I think this is as good as it gets with Martial, as long as he stays injury free he’ll 10 to 15 goals but don’t expect any more than that and don’t expect him to become a world beater at any point.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

I think this is as good as it gets with Martial, as long as he stays injury free he’ll 10 to 15 goals but don’t expect any more than that and don’t expect him to become a world beater at any point.

It’s literally not “as good as it gets” though considering he’s already scored more than that before in his career.

Also hilarious criticizing his lack of production considering his per 90 numbers this year are absurd for how little he’s played.

 

[berbatrick]

Insane reactions to another goal and a performance where I thought he addressed his biggest criticism: off-the-ball movement. Constantly making runs, not getting disappointed if he wasn't found, making a different run next time. Check out the run for the Antony chance, where he pulled a defender left so that Rashford could find Bruno in some space. And it wasn't a one-time thing either. The exact type of thing he did not do in his best season (19/20) despite a good goal output.

 

[crossy1686]

It’s literally not “as good as it gets” though considering he’s already scored more than that before in his career.

Also hilarious criticizing his lack of production considering his per 90 numbers this year are absurd for how little he’s played.

And he hasn’t had this many consistent injuries before in his career. Many players have had high scoring seasons and never gone on to better them, Martial will be one of those players. The past is no measure for future achievements.

 

[Marwood]

I'll give this to you, you lots are relentless. I kind of admire that never give up attitude.

Also how could you tell someone was sweating or not from that rain that was puting yesterday?

And any professional player looking out of breath after 60 minutes should be cause for concern.

I've barely commented on Martial this season. You're 4th highest in this thread? If there's one of us that's relentless.

Not to be pendantic but it wasn't raining when he came off.

Either way I've watched enough football to know how a player looks when he's coming off the pitch having given his all. Martial was fresh as a daisy.

He just doesn’t have the right attitude.

I'm not saying he's got a bad attitude, it's just not the required one. Like Berbatov before him.

 

[Marwood]

Insane reactions to another goal and a performance where I thought he addressed his biggest criticism: off-the-ball movement. Constantly making runs, not getting disappointed if he wasn't found, making a different run next time. Check out the run for the Anthony chance, where he pulled a defender left so that Rashford could fund Bruno in some space. And it wasn't a one-time thing either. The exact type of thing he did not do in his best season (19/20) despite a good goal output.

It was a tame effort and a goalkeeper mistake.

Happy he got that bit of luck but such a thing is irrelevant when we're discussing is he the answer long term.

He isn't the answer and needs to become a squad player.

 

[berbatrick]

It was a tame effort and a goalkeeper mistake.

again - one of the criticisms in 19/20 was that he doesn't score ugly goals. well, here it is - ugly goal! movement! even the goal against city was a rebound tap-in header. the goal against villa was a tap-in after a run.
this is what his critics wanted, and now it's held against him.
...

As a reminder, he has 5 goals and 2 assists in 427 mins (1.47 G+A/90), a better ratio than Kane (0.7), Salah (1.05), Nunez (1.34), Son (0.4), Havertz (0.41), Martial's replacement Ivan Toney (0.9), or Callum Wilson (0.83).
The only one who is better is of course Haaland (1.64).

Obviously because of limited minutes this is not a fair comparison, and it will drop over the season. But if people here were remotely fair-minded they'd hold off on the criticism while he's producing Messi-level numbers.

 

[Santoryo]

It was a tame effort and a goalkeeper mistake.

Happy he got that bit of luck but such a thing is irrelevant when we're discussing is he the answer long term.

He isn't the answer and needs to become a squad player.

This is clearly agenda posting. What about his form under Ten Hag justifies this type of post? He has played well under ETH so far, and while he wasn't spectacular last game, he was still decent enough and still contributed to us winning.

He's consistently played well under ETH and that's what matters. Criticisms about his availability due to poor injury record are justified but falsely claiming he hasn't been up to it when on the pitch this season is nonsensical.

 

[Marwood]

This is clearly agenda posting. What about his form under Ten Hag justifies this type of post? He has played well under ETH so far, and while he wasn't spectacular last game, he was still decent enough and still contributed to us winning.

He's consistently played well under ETH and that's what matters. Criticisms about his availability due to poor injury record are justified but falsely claiming he hasn't been up to it when on the pitch this season is nonsensical.

You've quickly gone to the agenda argument. You can do better.

If you only want to judge a player on the last four games go for it.

I, like anybody who isn't irrationally trying to defend a player, will judge him on the entirety of his performances.

He's not got what it takes to be a No.9 for a team wanting to be up there with the very best. The sooner we move on from the idea the better.

And I was a big fan of his at one stage.

 

[Santoryo]

You've quickly gone to the agenda argument. You can do better.

If you only want to judge a player on the last four games go for it.

I, like anybody who isn't irrationally trying to defend a player, will judge him on the entirety of his performances.

He's not got what it takes to be a No.9 for a team wanting to be up there with the very best. The sooner we move on from the idea the better.

And I was a big fan of his at one stage.

No we judge players with how they fair with the regime/coach they are playing for. This place was all up in arms in favor of getting rid of Dalot yet here we are with him blossoming under Ten Hag. Same could be said about Rashford and I could go on. The point is Martial has looked good under Ten Hag and should be judged based on his performances under him.

It's like people just never learn. If you want to complain about performances and such then wait for him to actually have stinkers so your arguments will have some sort of ground and not look agenda driven like it currently seems like.

 

[Sandikan]

The usual tripe that Martial isnt a 9 is trying to gain foothold again, mixed in with predictions that he's past it at 27

That is 3 years from 30 in fairness.

 

[Marwood]

No we judge players with how they fair with the regime/coach they are playing for. This place was all up in arms in favor of getting rid of Dalot yet here we are with him blossoming under Ten Hag. Same could be said about Rashford and I could go on. The point is Martial has looked good under Ten Hag and should be judged based on his performances under him.

It's like people just never learn. If you want to complain about performances and such then wait for him to actually have stinkers so your arguments will have some sort of ground and not look agenda driven like it currently seems like.

Even if I went along with this new criteria of only judging a player on his last few games, I still couldn't see Martial as the long term solution.

He's been ok/average this season. Nothing more than that.

The comparison with Dalot is obviously a false one. Dalot is a young player who needed games/time. I was using that argument to defend Martial five years ago. You can't be using it for a 27 year old.