Erling Haaland / signs for Dortmund

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Problem with the Caf is that posters just don't sit for a bit and think. As soon as they hear something exiting they all jump in that new hype and get lost in all those noises. This thread is just another indictment of this place.

The general consensus and something well known during these boards and frankly anyone should know this, is that we have a glaring weaknesses in our squad which is our midfield. From our CMs not being that great especially if you take out Pogba(who's been out for a while and whom some consider won't be here next year) to our AM options being downright mediocre, the main focus should obviously be on that area.

This entire season we've been crying out for creativity and lamenting our lack of options yet come into this thread and people want us to first throw money at a Lukaku type of striker just because he's the current flavour of the month.

So what happened when he's bought and doesn't get the service he's getting in his 3rd rate league? He won't be scoring as many goals because of lack of services, and the same people crying out for his signing will be the ones up his throat. Heck the last few games we've actually managed to offset our lack of midfield creative issues because we happened to have a striker with ability to help and add onto our creativity and even that still isn't enough because we still need a creative AM urgently.

But nope, let just buy another Lukaku type player who would rely on the team creating for him to score despite the team itself lacking that component on the field. No, let's not prioritise an AM with creativity so we can buy a striker who need services to score.

It's astounding how this place can get sometimes and how shortsighted and oblivious to certain obvious things some lots are.
 
Apparently he's Lukaku. I wonder if half the people claiming this are just following other posts.

The only thing I find comparable with Lukaku is the goalscoring stats at the same age. I haven't seen him play full games to comment, but his highlight reels suggest he's a different player to Lukaku. He looks more agile, better at dribbling and he looks better on link ups too. But it's a called a highlight reel for a reason I guess.
 
Eckers99 said:
Do we? The only DMs I'm seeing are Fred, who's only just getting his act together, and Matic, who's finished.
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Was thinking about the players that play in the 2 in Ole's 4-2-3-1. Probably more correct to call them central midfielders.
 
The irony of some people shitting on Martial(who just happened to be essential for us to play some decent football this season) so they can hype some kid playing in some 3rd rate league is beyond ridiculous.

All these talks of the kid being a generational talent, better than Martial etc just sums up the Caf in a nutshell. Kid with everything to prove is being given god like status and people not buying that nonsense get called Martial fanboys(a player by the way some lot in here should be hoping he continues and maintain his good form this season for the sake of our team) while they don't even realised their own fanboyism.

Grass always greener and all that. Never change Caf. Also quite noticeable a lot of newbie trying to preach in this thread how much of a generational talent this kid is. I wonder why?
 
Santoryo said:
The irony of some people shitting on Martial(who just happened to be essential for us to play some decent football this season) so they can hype some kid playing in some 3rd rate league is beyond ridiculous.

All these talks of the kid being a generational talent, better than Martial etc just sums up the Caf in a nutshell. Kid with everything to prove is being given god like status and people not buying that nonsense get called Martial fanboys(a player by the way some lot in here should be hoping he continues and maintain his good form this season for the sake of our team) while they don't even realised their own fanboyism.

Grass always greener and all that. Never change Caf. Also quite noticeable a lot of newbie trying to preach in this thread how much of a generational talent this kid is. I wonder why?
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Who should play up top when Martial gets injured?
 
Santoryo said:
The irony of some people shitting on Martial(who just happened to be essential for us to play some decent football this season) so they can hype some kid playing in some 3rd rate league is beyond ridiculous.

All these talks of the kid being a generational talent, better than Martial etc just sums up the Caf in a nutshell. Kid with everything to prove is being given god like status and people not buying that nonsense get called Martial fanboys(a player by the way some lot in here should be hoping he continues and maintain his good form this season for the sake of our team) while they don't even realised their own fanboyism.

Grass always greener and all that. Never change Caf. Also quite noticeable a lot of newbie trying to preach in this thread how much of a generational talent this kid is. I wonder why?
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Preach the truth my man. My point originally wasn't even centred around the belief that Martial can easily become world class, I was constantly saying that we need 2 CMs, a CAM, a RW and probably a LB before thinking about a first 11 striker.

A squad option for the CF spot would currently be on the level of a right winger, mainly thanks to how great Dan James has been, otherwise it's another critically important area that we need to address and it has been for years that we have missed a specialist winger on that side of the pitch.
 
Art Vandelay said:
This thread has taken a bizarre turn.
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Martial will always be an enigma, and a divisive figure. Not sure why he was brought into the discussion, but one thing is for sure is that healthy or not, we still need another striker to replace Lukaku. If Ole thinks this kid fits the bill then i'm all for it, but personally i wouldn't want us to spend more than 50-60m for him. Not a generational talent imo.
 
Do price tags actually matter in terms of squad status, unless they are obviously the best player in the world in their position?

Surely the conversation would go something like:

OLE: Hiya kid, so glad you're interested to come, You know I think highly of you and have the potential to become the best.
HAALAND: Cheers Uncle Ole, can't wait to get started, whats the plan.
OLE: Well, as you have seen Martial has been on fire recently. You will have to work hard to make that spot your own, but I have total faith in your abilities. We'll introduce you slowly and it will be up to you to take your chance, there will still be times where you will be rested though as we will need you fresh and ready for some big games coming up!
HAALAND: Yeah no problem Uncle Ole I wouldn't expect it any other way. Where do I sign.
OLE: Good lad, go on off you go and find somewhere to live. Say Hi to yer Mam and Dad for me. ANTHONY IN MY OFFICE PLEASE!!! Oh and Erland!
HAALAND:Yes?
OLE: Don't be a dick and wear your Leeds or City shirt to training!
MARTIAL: Bonjour Boss.
OLE: Hiya Lad, We've just signed Haaland, he thinks he's better than you, Can you prove him wrong? He gives us a different option up front and we can start to play 2 up front if we need and he will create more space for to to go grab us more goals and vice versa.
MARTIAL: Oui, non. I am better striker.
OLE: We only have room for the best players here at Utd son, thats why you are here! You need to keep up the good form though, there is never a time to relax at Utd, you have to be bang at it all the time. No room for passengers. But I have faith in you son, but you now need to prove to me that you are the better player!
MARTIAL: Oui, non, I am better striker.
OLE: Glad to hear it Son, go out and show me on the pitch. You're playing on Saturday so you can continue to show me that my faith in you is justified. We have a lot of important games coming up from now until the end of the season, and we will need you fresh and ready. You are far too important to risk picking up injuries and missing games, so you will be rested in selected matches. Just make sure you are ready for the next one.
MARTIAL: Ou, non Boss. I am better striker!

See, no problems here!
 
Santoryo said:
The irony of some people shitting on Martial(who just happened to be essential for us to play some decent football this season) so they can hype some kid playing in some 3rd rate league is beyond ridiculous.

All these talks of the kid being a generational talent, better than Martial etc just sums up the Caf in a nutshell. Kid with everything to prove is being given god like status and people not buying that nonsense get called Martial fanboys(a player by the way some lot in here should be hoping he continues and maintain his good form this season for the sake of our team) while they don't even realised their own fanboyism.

Grass always greener and all that. Never change Caf. Also quite noticeable a lot of newbie trying to preach in this thread how much of a generational talent this kid is. I wonder why?
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We love martial, but he can’t play every game. He gets injured, loss of form etc.

Competition can only be a good thing also. We can’t rely on 1 player playing well forever.
 
DoomSlayer said:
Preach the truth my man. My point originally wasn't even centred around the belief that Martial can easily become world class, I was constantly saying that we need 2 CMs, a CAM, a RW and probably a LB before thinking about a first 11 striker.

A squad option for the CF spot would currently be on the level of a right winger, mainly thanks to how great Dan James has been, otherwise it's another critically important area that we need to address and it has been for years that we have missed a specialist winger on that side of the pitch.
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Problem with this place and this thread in particular is that some people want this kid so badly that their reaction to any rance against the idea of buying the kid is met with extreme.

To convince themselves and everyone else in this thread that the kid's purchase is a must they resort to shitting on our striker option who happened to be Martial while overhyping and overrating the kid to ridiculous extent.

The above mentioned coupled with straw grasping arguments and distorted contexts("during Fergie time we had 4 strikers"(completely ignoring the fact that we played 2 strikers in those times), "Fergie bought Van Persie when he was available"(ignoring the fact that the team was more stable and not a shambles with glaring and massive weakness in key areas, not to mention it was Van fecking Persie a proven player and best striker in the PL)etc).

Our squad is crying for an injection of creativity right now and the people on the Caf know this. We simply cannot chose to focus on areas which don't need fixing right now when we've gotten screwed this season because our midfield is lacking.

What do people even think is going to happen with that kid here in our current state? Is he going to pull Messi like runs every games and score to maintain the scoring rate he's had in a third tier league? Lukaku was scoring for fun in Belgium as a fecking kid and was scoring plenty at Everton yet was a bust with us because of how many holes and disfunctianal our team was.

If you want to bring a player like that kid the first thing you need is to sort out your team's creativity. He won't get hot here without services and people have to get that through their skulls. It's that simple.
 
Santoryo said:
Problem with the Caf is that posters just don't sit for a bit and think. As soon as they hear something exiting they all jump in that new hype and get lost in all those noises. This thread is just another indictment of this place.

The general consensus and something well known during these boards and frankly anyone should know this, is that we have a glaring weaknesses in our squad which is our midfield. From our CMs not being that great especially if you take out Pogba(who's been out for a while and whom some consider won't be here next year) to our AM options being downright mediocre, the main focus should obviously be on that area.

This entire season we've been crying out for creativity and lamenting our lack of options yet come into this thread and people want us to first throw money at a Lukaku type of striker just because he's the current flavour of the month.

So what happened when he's bought and doesn't get the service he's getting in his 3rd rate league? He won't be scoring as many goals because of lack of services, and the same people crying out for his signing will be the ones up his throat. Heck the last few games we've actually managed to offset our lack of midfield creative issues because we happened to have a striker with ability to help and add onto our creativity and even that still isn't enough because we still need a creative AM urgently.

But nope, let just buy another Lukaku type player who would rely on the team creating for him to score despite the team itself lacking that component on the field. No, let's not prioritise an AM with creativity so we can buy a striker who need services to score.

It's astounding how this place can get sometimes and how shortsighted and oblivious to certain obvious things some lots are.
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You are spot on. In our current situation spending big chunks of money on players like Haaland would be irresposible in the case that it would prevent us from acquiring other more vital targets.
 
Adam-Utd said:
We love martial, but he can’t play every game. He gets injured, loss of form etc.

Competition can only be a good thing also. We can’t rely on 1 player playing well forever.
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But right now we have far more pressing issues and areas to address which is our midfield. People are adamant to bring the kid but without creativity he'll bust here. We've seen a lot of players come here with hype and crash because of team and play was disfunctional.

First we sort out our team and balance than we start looking to upgrade areas which are actually quite good for us right now. Having another striker would be ideal but right now it's not the most pressing issues and most people on the Caf know this.
 
Santoryo said:
But right now we have far more pressing issues and areas to address which is our midfield. People are adamant to bring the kid but without creativity he'll bust here. We've seen a lot of players come here with hype and crash because of team and play was disfunctional.

First we sort out our team and balance than we start looking to upgrade areas which are actually quite good for us right now. Having another striker would be ideal but right now it's not the most pressing issues and most people on the Caf know this.
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“We let Alexis and Romelu go, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that it’s forward that next time we’re going to recruit,”

OGS.


We need backup ASAP.
 
Santoryo said:
But right now we have far more pressing issues and areas to address which is our midfield. People are adamant to bring the kid but without creativity he'll bust here. We've seen a lot of players come here with hype and crash because of team and play was disfunctional.

First we sort out our team and balance than we start looking to upgrade areas which are actually quite good for us right now. Having another striker would be ideal but right now it's not the most pressing issues and most people on the Caf know this.
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Who's to say Ole hasn't got a creative midfielder lined up?
 
thegregster said:
Who should play up top when Martial gets injured?
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Who should play on the LW when Rashford get injured? Who should play on the RW when James gets injured? Who should play as RB when AWB gets injured? Lots of questions to ask and go around.

But at least for now those positions are covered regardless of hypothetical scenarios. However we don't have a decent AM which our team needs given they way it's build. We need another CM. Those are actual pressing issues because we're lacking in those areas, not hypothetical what if scenarios when player x get injured.

Ideally you'd want back up and good covers for important areas of the team but eight now we actually need to completely balance and sort out our first 11, it's more urgent.
 
In the summer of 2011, City bought Sergio Aguero. Their squad already contained Dzeko, Tevez and Adebayor, all of which were more proven PL goal scorers at that point than Martial is now. They had also recently bought Balotelli, who was a big talent back then. Their starting line up in the first game of the 11/12 season were:
Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, de Jong, Barry, A. Johnson, Toure, Silva, Dzeko

Anyone think they had more pressing concerns than buying a new shiny striker? Anyone think they regret that window? If the club identifies a player they think will be exceptional, they have to go for him, no matter what.
 
Santoryo said:
But right now we have far more pressing issues and areas to address which is our midfield. People are adamant to bring the kid but without creativity he'll bust here. We've seen a lot of players come here with hype and crash because of team and play was disfunctional.

First we sort out our team and balance than we start looking to upgrade areas which are actually quite good for us right now. Having another striker would be ideal but right now it's not the most pressing issues and most people on the Caf know this.
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Sure, but our midfield is working quite well recently. If Haaland is available now and other better CM aren’t then you take what you can get.

we might get Haaland and Fernandes this window, then sancho in the summer? Who knows.
 
Art Vandelay said:
This thread has taken a bizarre turn.
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Why, because posters are writing novels in defence of Martial despite the fact that nobody has written anything bad about him? Besides the fact that he might get injured and that he isn’t world class (which noone in their right mind would argue at this point in time).
 
thegregster said:
“We let Alexis and Romelu go, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that it’s forward that next time we’re going to recruit,”

OGS.


We need backup ASAP.
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Of course Ole would say that when Martial was out injured and himself was under the cosh and heat from the media, especially when Rashford was misfiring upfront.

Ole them himself said after Martial returned that he trust Martial to do the job and claimed that the media have been overstating this striker issue and we're covered for now.

At the end of the day both you and I know we need to address our middle of the park. I'm sure we both scream at Perreira and Lingard almost every game when they feck up even the simplest things and I for one would like to start watching united move the ball forward w/o Pereira failing to keep the ball.
 
Santoryo said:
Who should play on the LW when Rashford get injured? Who should play on the RW when James gets injured? Who should play as RB when AWB gets injured? Lots of questions to ask and go around.

But at least for now those positions are covered regardless of hypothetical scenarios. However we don't have a decent AM which our team needs given they way it's build. We need another CM. Those are actual pressing issues because we're lacking in those areas, not hypothetical what if scenarios when player x get injured.

Ideally you'd want back up and good covers for important areas of the team but eight now we actually need to completely balance and sort out our first 11, it's more urgent.
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One striker frees up like half of those positions.

An injury to martial, haaland (or any new striker) slots in. An injury to Rashford, Martial goes to his position and Haaland up top. Injury to James, Haaland up top and Martial on the right.

Thinking one striker will forever perform at a top level without getting injured as well is extremely naive.
 
Surely this is not an either/or situation? We spunk 85m on Maguire, we sure as hell can buy this kid and a cm/am, and should Pogba goes, that money can be reinvested in a cm/am as well. If the board refuses to spend then it’s moot regardless.

This discussion is inane.
 
Santoryo said:
The irony of some people shitting on Martial(who just happened to be essential for us to play some decent football this season) so they can hype some kid playing in some 3rd rate league is beyond ridiculous.

All these talks of the kid being a generational talent, better than Martial etc just sums up the Caf in a nutshell. Kid with everything to prove is being given god like status and people not buying that nonsense get called Martial fanboys(a player by the way some lot in here should be hoping he continues and maintain his good form this season for the sake of our team) while they don't even realised their own fanboyism.

Grass always greener and all that. Never change Caf. Also quite noticeable a lot of newbie trying to preach in this thread how much of a generational talent this kid is. I wonder why?
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The funny thing isn’t that people on here gets excited when a young talent breaks through and breaks records east and west every week. It is that guys like you think that Martial is the #9 that will win us anything. He wouldn’t be a starter as #9 in any of the top 10 clubs in the world. Martial is a good player, yes, but he is inconsistant and frustrating to watch at times. Can easily do a full 90 minutes without putting in a single sprint and rarely find himself in good scoring positions. We will not challenge for PL or CL again before we get a top striker. It is that simple.
He’s been with us for 4 and a half seasons now and his record is: 4 goals in 29 matches in the CL and 37 goals in 120 matches in the PL.
Haaland 7 goals in 4 matches in the CL. His domestic competion numbers won’t impress you because it is just the Austrian league, but the numbers are still mindblowing. They really are. Let’s just sat that they are better than any other striker in the world this season.
Do not want, because Martial will be upset if he has to compete for a spot in Man Utd first 11. Wtf!

Of course we need this upgrade to get back to challenge for the PL and CL. This guy is the real deal, and if there is a chance we could get him, we should grab that chance. Unless of course we are happy just being a top 6 club.
Haaland will be happy having a rotational role in the team, like he has in Salzburg (avg 69minutes per match) and so should the rest of our attackers be in a strong team with a good squad. Greenwood needs to go on loan to get more minutes and develop further.

And yes, we also need more creativity in the midfield. Someone like Sancho, Havertz, Olmo, Fernandez, Odegaard or even Ziyech or DVB.

PS! The sad thing is that you haven’t even watched this kid....
 
If he is going to be coming here to change up our attack to fit a target man like Lukaku 2.0 - I'm not all excited. We would need a change in what kind of wingers we have and how we supply & create chances.

However, when watching him - he clearly is left footed & if we start playing striker partnerships in a 352 then I'm all up for it.

Rashford & Martial - Haaland & Greenwood

I also want Martial to start playing deeper as a False 9.

Rashford - Haaland/Greenwood
Martial​
 
Haaland, Martial, James, Rashford, Greenwood doesn't look overkill to me.

If you add Sancho then yes, We'll have 3 players with similar play style. But the combination above looks good to me.
 
I've watched him plenty and for me at the time Salzburg bought him, he reminded me much more of the young Rooney at Everton. Maybe not in raw talent but certainly in aggression, pace and determination.

Seeing very good defenders in their prime beeing ran ragged and constantly bullied by a youngster were quite the sight.

He has obviously developed quite a bit since then but for me what stands out is his confidence and hunger for scoring goals, I belive he could become a beast of a goalscorer in any top league.

VP89 said:
Apparently he's Lukaku. I wonder if half the people claiming this are just following other posts.

The only thing I find comparable with Lukaku is the goalscoring stats at the same age. I haven't seen him play full games to comment, but his highlight reels suggest he's a different player to Lukaku. He looks more agile, better at dribbling and he looks better on link ups too. But it's a called a highlight reel for a reason I guess.
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Santoryo said:
Problem with this place and this thread in particular is that some people want this kid so badly that their reaction to any rance against the idea of buying the kid is met with extreme.

To convince themselves and everyone else in this thread that the kid's purchase is a must they resort to shitting on our striker option who happened to be Martial while overhyping and overrating the kid to ridiculous extent.

The above mentioned coupled with straw grasping arguments and distorted contexts("during Fergie time we had 4 strikers"(completely ignoring the fact that we played 2 strikers in those times), "Fergie bought Van Persie when he was available"(ignoring the fact that the team was more stable and not a shambles with glaring and massive weakness in key areas, not to mention it was Van fecking Persie a proven player and best striker in the PL)etc).

Our squad is crying for an injection of creativity right now and the people on the Caf know this. We simply cannot chose to focus on areas which don't need fixing right now when we've gotten screwed this season because our midfield is lacking.

What do people even think is going to happen with that kid here in our current state? Is he going to pull Messi like runs every games and score to maintain the scoring rate he's had in a third tier league? Lukaku was scoring for fun in Belgium as a fecking kid and was scoring plenty at Everton yet was a bust with us because of how many holes and disfunctianal our team was.

If you want to bring a player like that kid the first thing you need is to sort out your team's creativity. He won't get hot here without services and people have to get that through their skulls. It's that simple.
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No one is shitting on Martial. The vast majority of posters here was in full agreement that him returning has been essential in our attack looking better. The problem with not signing him (or any other CF) is as follows:
1. What if Martial get injured again. When he was out and we played Rashford as a CF we looked clueless up front. Rashford leaves a lot to be desired as a CF, but he is also very dangerous on the wing so its almost like having two injuries
2. What if Martial hits a rough patch of form? Personally i think hes brilliant, but hes always been inconsistent for us. Maybe this is the season where he finally steps up and can consistently play close to his top level, but if he does not then we are kind of fecked because the options are not very good
3. This is not if, this will happen: Martial cant possibly play all league and cup games and the same goes for Rashford and James, with only Greenwood as a backup we only have one rotation player for three spots. Thats not enough. Mata is diabolical as a winger and certainly cant play CF, same with Lingaard

Everyone knows we need more players, particularly in midfield, but the reason we need to get him now is pretty simple as well
1. With every big club in the world having his eyes on him, there is zero chance he plays in Austria in August. Zero. So if say City or Barca snatch him up there is no chance they will resell him
2. The only realistic chance we have of signing him is if Ole is managing us. Thats our golden ticket.
 
Love that "ramp up" imagery, as if the Manchester United nation state has landed one of its largest super transport carrier aircraft wherever the hell it likes in Salzburg to disgorge its officials and sieze its cargo. More likely, Woodward mistakenly emailed Haaland's dad asking him how to fix a fax machine.
 
supermao said:
I've watched him plenty and for me at the time Salzburg bought him, he reminded me much more of the young Rooney at Everton. Maybe not in raw talent but certainly in aggression, pace and determination.

Seeing very good defenders in their prime beeing ran ragged and constantly bullied by a youngster were quite the sight.

He has obviously developed quite a bit since then but for me what stands out is his confidence and hunger for scoring goals, I belive he could become a beast of a goalscorer in any top league.
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Yeah, don't see why anyone is comparing him with Lukaku. The way he plays and the intensity in his game is like young Rooney. Obviously the sample size is small but the way his game is described in few of the articles posted, he is nothing like Lukaku except being tall and built like tank.
 
The people saying we shouldn’t buy because we have Martial are the same ones who will be moaning when martial is injured for half of next season and Haaland is proving himself by banging in goals at another ‘bigger’ team and has doubled in valuation
 
Why do we always have to turn threads of other players to shit with rubbish comparisons and overrate/underrate our own players in the process.

We need another ST and he could be the answer.
 
Santoryo said:
The irony of some people shitting on Martial(who just happened to be essential for us to play some decent football this season) so they can hype some kid playing in some 3rd rate league is beyond ridiculous.

All these talks of the kid being a generational talent, better than Martial etc just sums up the Caf in a nutshell. Kid with everything to prove is being given god like status and people not buying that nonsense get called Martial fanboys(a player by the way some lot in here should be hoping he continues and maintain his good form this season for the sake of our team) while they don't even realised their own fanboyism.

Grass always greener and all that. Never change Caf. Also quite noticeable a lot of newbie trying to preach in this thread how much of a generational talent this kid is. I wonder why?
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Why are you turning this into a Martial vs anti-Martial thing? I don't think anybody is saying Martial is shit. People believe we need another striker to reach next level and some believe this kid is the right kind of striker we need.

You shouting a lot doesn't make your point right. Also, have you seen him play before deciding he is Lukaku kind of player or before making random statements like the team needs to create for him etc? Or is it just shouting loudly again so that your point is heard?
 
Martial is so incredibly overrated on this board, largely due to this weird narrative which builds on this place where players magically gain more ability when they are injured. There's nothing I've seen in Martials' play which makes me think he has improved from his debut season, all that talent is not of much use without the work ethic to match.
 
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