Has Martial done enough to be backed as our long-term #9?

romufc said:
Everyone saying we barely created anything for him did not watch the game. Martial was dreadful last night, not one bit of positive. Normally, if he doesnt score his all round game is good but there was none of that yesterday. He couldn't hold the ball up, couldn't pass, couldn't dribble, kept giving fouls away.

One of the worst CF displays of the season.
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Got to agree.
I both watched the game and listened to the commentary on 5 Live. And Sinclair absolutely summed him up - he just doesn't look like he enjoys playing football.
No energy, no movement. It was a nothing performance.
Nevertheless, he was far from the only one. We were flat front start to finish apart from the last few minutes.
Just awful.
 
Kostov said:
We have other big problems besides him, replacing him with a top top striker would solve just part of our problems, but it won't solve our CDM issue, CB issue, and RW issue. We create feck all and that's partly due to our ST but not only because of it.
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I kinda agree, and kind of not.

It's a bit of a chicken-egg dilemma.

I personally think our CB issue is not all that pressing. We have 3 solid CB's, truth be told, 2 of them are often crooked (one with back problems, other with reckless problems), but in reality, not a flaming house problem in the CB department. We also have some quality academy players rising up in the CB position.

The CDM yes, a quality one would lift us up even more.

But the main - flaming house problem - is our top center forward spot.
Cavani did plug a hole in the roof, but the question arises.....for how long?

The world is not full of complete center forwards. You could count their number on your hands.

We have two options - either buy Haaland or Mbappe, or stick Mason in the CF spot and buy a top RW.

I'm hoping the Martial fee could at least cover 30% of the deal.
 
Not a striker.

I think we either have to move Greenwood in the long term into the strikers position or sign a striker.

Ole played Martial last night hoping he would score a few to kickstart his season and he was woeful. Its blood Sheffield United as well. Christ on a bike.
 
His performances have been an insult to the number 9 shirt, he's not fit to lace the boots of even some of our low profile number 9's like Berba Saha and Choccy.

You can forgive someone for an off game but this guy isnt even trying.
For me OLE needs to act quick and stop defending him.
 
Buster15 said:
Got to agree.
I both watched the game and listened to the commentary on 5 Live. And Sinclair absolutely summed him up - he just doesn't look like he enjoys playing football.
No energy, no movement. It was a nothing performance.
Nevertheless, he was far from the only one. We were flat front start to finish apart from the last few minutes.
Just awful.
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I agree, our players played poorly. Pogba, Bruno, Greenwood, Rashford all had really poor games but what differentiates is the work ethic.

How can a ST who doesn't score goals get 2 chances on goal in 15 seconds from standing in the same place? Burke did not move.

In the same way... Martial did not move..he was stood at the edge of the box, hands behind his back. He made no movements up top, didn't look like he wanted to play.

When a player looks like he is not interested, always sulking at his team mates, its time to get rid.

Unfortunately, I think I am done discussing Martial every season, every season he is a let down. If we are ever to be successful again, we have to be ruthless and Martial does not make the cut. If we want to be a nice club and hope for his talents to become reality, then keep him.
 
Hugh Jass said:
Not a striker.

I think we either have to move Greenwood in the long term into the strikers position or sign a striker.

Ole played Martial last night hoping he would score a few to kickstart his season and he was woeful. Its blood Sheffield United as well. Christ on a bike.
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Martial is 25 years old now and, in regards to football, very experienced and he should be showing much more maturity and consistency as a player but he continues to perform as if he were years younger. Too often his attitude is very poor and he goes through matches seemingly sulking or uninterested. Yes there have been flashes of brilliance but of late these have become few are far between. I think its time Ole has to consider Martials future with United, not just where he plays but if he deserves to play at all. which, for some time now, he has not. I'd be sorry to see him leave but he wouldn't be the first player to fail to achieve his potential at United.
 
K Stand Knut said:
Me too! Just every so often he pulls me back in.

Sell him. Sell De Gea.

Move on.

How can Greenwood not be going mental at Ole.
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Yep, and its the lack of effort over time that is tough to get past. Wish him luck and move on. I totally believe he will play a part and can help the 2 half, make him our euro league striker etc....
 
Not a No. 9, has never been and never will be. Not the umpteenth time that's been said. Part of our route back to the top will be to replace him with a proper striker. The sooner the better.
 
tenpoless said:
Ighalo is a better CF than Martial and that explains everything.
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This is literally the stupidest opinion I've seen repeated on this place in the last year or so.

Journeyman striker comes in and holds the ball up for five seconds in two big games (that Martial scored the crucial goal in), proceeds to miss a sitter in one of them (that Martial and Rashford would be torn apart for), scores a nice goal against a pub team the next week, doesn't get near the starting XI in serious games for the next nine months, and somehow a dozen people who've (supposedly) been watching the team play all this time decide he's a better striker.

Have a word with yourself.

DickDastardly said:
I'm not talking about chances created or xG's, whatever the feck that is.

You make it sound like the forward's part in all of this is just putting the ball in the net, a simple tap-in.
Top forwards make their own chances, by themselves or by clever movement's, quick one, two's, etc.
They even score out of nothing.

Martial doesn't do that. Hell, this season he doesn't even do tap-ins anymore.
Cos his movement is shit.
He want's the ball in his feet, does a fancy dribble and flufs the shot.

You put Kane or Haaland in our team and we become elite team you speak of.
Why? Because a TOP forward does that.
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This is actually a good point that addresses a specific weakness in Martial's game, as opposed to "he's always been average and Odion Ighalo is better because he scored against LASK Linz!!!!"

Having said all that, it's worth taking a deep breath here (for a lot of people in this thread) and remembering that the last United striker to beat Martial's 17 league goals (all from open play) last season was Van Persie, seven long years ago.

He's in a massive slump right now, and he's costing the team massively.. Still a quality player (despite his weaknesses) who's not alone in struggling for form this season. At worst, he'll be worth keeping as a great depth option in two positions if a new world class striker is signed (I can't actually think of too many apart from Haaland who would actually fit the bill - Lautaro Martinez plays for a better team in a weaker league and still has a worse scoring record, so he'd probably be ripped apart within two weeks on here if United did sign him).
 
He did absolutely nothing to warrant the contract he was given. When he got the new contract it was almost as if Ole was saying that he was a better judge than Jose.
Martial looks disinterested when the game isn't going his way. He needs to play on the counter to be affective and is utterly useless against a team sitting back. Ole will stick with him, just like he did last night when he should have been hooked at HT (at the earliest), but we will persist with him in the side until he scores and then it will be 'See what happens when Ole stick with him!'
 
We can't bench a player for more than one or two games, otherwise the playing ones risking a faitgue or injury. At some point getting Sancho previous summer was a good intention to have someone who can step up into both sides. We could sell him or perhaps politely 'punish' him by having reasonable depth to bench him for more than two games. Then again he's on 250k which this season looks a massive overkill.

All we need is one good summer, Grealish or Sancho (both ?) and at some point this could be end of Anthony Martial in Manchester United.
 
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UNITED ACADEMY said:
I won’t say strange strategy. That just shows that the manager wants to believe in you, he probably understands how it feels as player so he gave Pereira & Lingard lot of chances until both have no excuses anymore and now is doing it to Martial. I remember Martial agent was making excuses. With this strategy, none of the player, the agent or even the Martial FC will have excuses to say that he’s been unfairly treated.
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No, it is the right thing to do in my opinion. But if you have already decided or have an inkling that a player isn't good enough, then this strategy hurts the team in the short term. That is what I meant by strange, the previous poster I felt implied that Ole already felt he was not good enough.
 
Van Piorsing said:
We can't bench a player for more than one or two games, otherwise the playing ones risking a faitgue or injury. At some point getting Sancho previous summer was a good intention to have someone who can step up into both sides. We could sell him or perhaps politely 'punish' him by having reasonable depth to bench him for more than two games. Then again he's on 250k which this season looks a massive overkill.

All we need is one good summer, Grealish or Sancho (both ?) and at some point this could be end of Anthony Martial in Manchester United.
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One thing you can say for certain is his lack of workrate would certainly not be accepted by Klopp/Pep
 
groovyalbert said:
He has comfortably been our worst player this season.
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This is the unfortunate truth.

It's reached a point now where it's no longer on him and it's down to Ole for continuing to pick him.

When you see a player going through poor form, but still traying to make runs, take people on, get shots away, play balls through, etc...and it's just not coming off, you can cut them some slack and understand why the manager sticks with them. When a forward isn't even trying to do these things it means the rest of the team is carrying them and the manager is harming the team and the player by continuing to play them.

Even last night, Ole took Greenwood off and moved Rashford out of positon, just to keep Martial on the pitch. This has to be the most bafflingly rubbish piece of game management I have ever seen. He's risking damaging the harmony of the squad. Martial should be absolute bottom of the list at the moment. If you want to support him, you do that by working with him and reminding him what he needs to be trying to do in games. Not by just throwing him back in the pool to drown again week after week when he isn't even trying to swim.
 
croadyman said:
One thing you can say for certain is his lack of workrate would certainly not be accepted by Klopp/Pep
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Oh that's for sure, I don't think even Brendan would be happy with all hard fought contribution Barnes and Vardy having right now in Leicester.
 
romufc said:
I agree, our players played poorly. Pogba, Bruno, Greenwood, Rashford all had really poor games but what differentiates is the work ethic.

How can a ST who doesn't score goals get 2 chances on goal in 15 seconds from standing in the same place? Burke did not move.

In the same way... Martial did not move..he was stood at the edge of the box, hands behind his back. He made no movements up top, didn't look like he wanted to play.

When a player looks like he is not interested, always sulking at his team mates, its time to get rid.

Unfortunately, I think I am done discussing Martial every season, every season he is a let down. If we are ever to be successful again, we have to be ruthless and Martial does not make the cut. If we want to be a nice club and hope for his talents to become reality, then keep him.
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The more I watch Martial against Sheff Utd the more Im inclined to agree with you. Maybe Martial will fulfill his potential at another club but I fear he's reached his peak and from here on the only way for him is down.
 
redmanx said:
The more I watch Martial against Sheff Utd the more Im inclined to agree with you. Maybe Martial will fulfill his potential at another club but I fear he's reached his peak and from here on the only way for him is down.
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I wouldn't mind if its a one off but when was the last time Martial had a really good game or made a difference? Probably last season.

Well, we all backed him then, we all said Martial is a very good CF because he was but sadly it was a purple patch, one that Zaha, Adama, Michu have all had.

Everyone expected him to kick on this season instead, he has missed sitter after sitter this season, lets not forget how many chances Martial has missed this season. The excuse I keep hearing is there is no service up to him, if that's true why has Cavani got goals? why does he look threatening?

Its frustrating to see how poor his game is, he is becoming quite selfish as well in that everytime he receives the ball he wants to dribble. You cannot do that as the CF.
 
Van Piorsing said:
Oh that's for sure, I don't think even Brendan would be happy with all hard fought contribution Barnes and Vardy having right now in Leicester.
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Yeah not forgetting Carlo/Jose who also would soon have him on the bench until he pulled his socks up
 
Martial is not a CF, agreed. Neither are Rashy or Mason, unfortunately. Cavani can not start every game. So we either change our tactics and play without a pure CF or we need to buy a new Ibra or Drogba. If we have enough money, Haaland is the one we need to go all out for. Thus, Rashy/Tony on the left, Mason/Amad (one can dream) on the right, Haaland/Cavani up top.
 
Water Melon said:
Martial is not a CF, agreed. Neither are Rashy or Mason, unfortunately. Cavani can not start every game. So we either change our tactics and play without a pure CF or we need to buy a new Ibra or Drogba. If we have enough money, Haaland is the one we need to go all out for. Thus, Rashy/Tony on the left, Mason/Amad (one can dream) on the right, Haaland/Cavani up top.
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I would sell Tony and get Grealish/Sancho for the LW
 
Having a dreadful season, not just in front of goal. Should really be a squad player but something tells me he won’t like that and will end up sulking anyway. He’s 25 now, maybe it’s time to cash in while we can.

How much could he fetch in this market? 40-50m?
 
yamo123x said:
His performances have been an insult to the number 9 shirt, he's not fit to lace the boots of even some of our low profile number 9's like Berba Saha and Choccy.

You can forgive someone for an off game but this guy isnt even trying.
For me OLE needs to act quick and stop defending him.
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Stop defending him? Martial sulk for a season when someone took his shirt number. How long do you think he will drown if Ole criticise him publicly?
 
Water Melon said:
Martial is not a CF, agreed. Neither are Rashy or Mason, unfortunately. Cavani can not start every game. So we either change our tactics and play without a pure CF or we need to buy a new Ibra or Drogba. If we have enough money, Haaland is the one we need to go all out for. Thus, Rashy/Tony on the left, Mason/Amad (one can dream) on the right, Haaland/Cavani up top.
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I feel like the club is pinning their hopes on Mason cementing the striker role, and will continue to make do/buy short term replacements on the cheap until he manages it.

Martial has nose-dived badly after last season, which is just so strange as we play with a system that should suit him. Rashford is the only one of the front 3 who looked on par with the very best only 6 months ago to be putting in performances anything close to what we'd come to expect.
 
hobbers said:
The future is going to be a newly signed number 9 and newly signed right winger. Rashford probably first choice on the left. Greenwood deputising across all 3 forward positions and Martial sold.
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Any idea when this might become a reality
 
tenpoless said:
Yeah that's your opinion. Martial isn't a CF. A better player? sure but not a better CF.
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Your opinion is even worse than Martial's season so far.

Ighalo's Premier League record in the last five years reads 3 goals in 47 games*. Better CF at what, exactly? Warming the bench?


*And yes, I will gladly come back to this post and apologize unreservedly if Martial fails to score 2 or more goals in his next 30 appearances.
 
He is and always will be a sulker... won't knuckle down and put the effort in when things aren't going his way.
I know he was half decent last season but really we should have got rid a couple of years ago.
 
Modern footballer wages gets head for free attitude and won't make runs. But when you look at Ole's sulkers get kuntified what for 40 million?
French players creche the Buffon despite having the highest rate of shttheirpants in the globe. So get rid. The other option is to other option the other option.
I told me mam I said play Rashford under the bench Matic to massage the just in front of the back for ever. Fact. He's costing us points like Utd issue statement on Rachel abuse
and she absolutely loves it won't change until we sign a decent director of balls. Pallister never went clubbing but we expect Anton de la fey to bring liqorice to a weed fest.
Have a word with yourself doctor? doctor? I'm still fuming at the officials sweet sweet tights but sheer bias in Carragher's flem.
It's like Barthez when he scot got free off Mar she Al makes Bebe look like Our Defence Has It Actually Been sweet sweet tights.
 
Needham said:
Modern footballer wages gets head for free attitude and won't make runs. But when you look at Ole's sulkers get kuntified what for 40 million?
French players creche the Buffon despite having the highest rate of shttheirpants in the globe. So get rid. The other option is to other option the other option.
I told me mam I said play Rashford under the bench Matic to massage the just in front of the back for ever. Fact. He's costing us points like Utd issue statement on Rachel abuse
and she absolutely loves it won't change until we sign a decent director of balls. Pallister never went clubbing but we expect Anton de la fey to bring liqorice to a weed fest.
Have a word with yourself doctor? doctor? I'm still fuming at the officials sweet sweet tights but sheer bias in Carragher's flem.
It's like Barthez when he scot got free off Mar she Al makes Bebe look like Our Defence Has It Actually Been sweet sweet tights.
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Have you been on a sesh?
 
Needham said:
Modern footballer wages gets head for free attitude and won't make runs. But when you look at Ole's sulkers get kuntified what for 40 million?
French players creche the Buffon despite having the highest rate of shttheirpants in the globe. So get rid. The other option is to other option the other option.
I told me mam I said play Rashford under the bench Matic to massage the just in front of the back for ever. Fact. He's costing us points like Utd issue statement on Rachel abuse
and she absolutely loves it won't change until we sign a decent director of balls. Pallister never went clubbing but we expect Anton de la fey to bring liqorice to a weed fest.
Have a word with yourself doctor? doctor? I'm still fuming at the officials sweet sweet tights but sheer bias in Carragher's flem.
It's like Barthez when he scot got free off Mar she Al makes Bebe look like Our Defence Has It Actually Been sweet sweet tights.
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:lol: :lol:
Early morning meds?
 
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