Anthony Martial #9

It's just a shirt number. This is the biggest season of his career, if he fails to deliver again we'll really have to start considering if his future really is with us, such an inconsistent and often disappointing player.

Hopefully things go well this season.
 
You know, when we said we wanted a number 9 to replace Lukaku, Woodward took it literally and done it without spending any money.
 
Ole is one of Martial FC.

His master plan of offloading Lukaku and making Martial as the main striker finally came to fruition.

Tis the season lads. Martial FC in full throttle.
 
No matter who our striker is unless we sort out our creativity issues they are hiding to nothing.
 
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I know it shouldn’t really matter what number a player wears, our 11 is possible a more legendary number then 9 any how, but it was the manner in which it was taken away from Martial and he’s now got it back and I’m happy as I think he is our best attacking talent way ahead then anyone else!

He is easily a 20+ goals a season player as a 9.
 
The season of youth, I'm excited by this statement of the club:

1st choice strikers - Martial/Rashford
Backups - Alexis/Greenwood

1st choice Left forwards - James/Alexis
Backups - Gomes/Chong

1st choice Right forwards - Lingard/Greenwood/Perreira
Backups - James/Mata/Dalot

1st choice AM - Pogba/Mata/Lingard/Alexis
Backups - Perreira/Gomes

Just have a look at our squad. Only one DM!
We're seriously going to attack first this season.
 
You'd think he'd have accepted it by now since it's been 3 years. He never should've lost it to begin with though.
It was disgusting - didn’t he find out via the media? So wrong .

Let’s hope he finds his number 9 form again
 
I don't remember Rashford signing a new contract yet? Only Martial has signed it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48826737

I know it shouldn’t really matter what number a player wears, our 11 is possible a more legendary number then 9 any how, but it was the manner in which it was taken away from Martial and he’s now got it back and I’m happy as I think he is our best attacking talent way ahead then anyone else!

He is easily a 20+ goals a season player as a 9.
Easily ?
 

I don't know if easily is the word but someone that scores 10 goals in 1600 minutes, mainly playing wide should have a fair chance to almost double that output when played as a striker and closer to the 3000 minutes that starters play. It's obviously not guaranteed.
 
M
The season of youth, I'm excited by this statement of the club:

1st choice strikers - Martial/Rashford
Backups - Alexis/Greenwood

1st choice Left forwards - James/Alexis
Backups - Gomes/Chong

1st choice Right forwards - Lingard/Greenwood/Perreira
Backups - James/Mata/Dalot

1st choice AM - Pogba/Mata/Lingard/Alexis
Backups - Perreira/Gomes

Just have a look at our squad. Only one DM!
We're seriously going to attack first this season.
McTominay & Matic
 
I don't know if easily is the word but someone that scores 10 goals in 1600 minutes, mainly playing wide should have a fair chance to almost double that output when played as a striker and closer to the 3000 minutes that starters play. It's obviously not guaranteed.
His numbers should improve and hopefully they will. The rest is tough to predict. The pressure and expectations on his shoulders will be bigger than ever. Time to step up
 
His numbers should improve and hopefully they will. The rest is tough to predict. The pressure and expectations on his shoulders will be bigger than ever. Time to step up

He has the talent. If he matches that with attitude and application we've a serious player
 
He really has to have the hunger to get goals this season. Too often he's happy to just tap it about or attempt dribbles. I think that's what Ole is trying to get through to him and judging from preseason he seems to be taking this on as it seemed like he was shooting more.

The coaching staff need to set him a target of 30 goals. He most likely won't reach that but it will force him to prioritise goal scoring and lead to his best numbers.
 
You'd think he'd have accepted it by now since it's been 3 years. He never should've lost it to begin with though.

Of course he should have lost it. Zlatan was a much better player coming in, and proved it with the season he had.

Martial would do well to get near Ibra's numbers this season
 
Of course he should have lost it. Zlatan was a much better player coming in, and proved it with the season he had.

Martial would do well to get near Ibra's numbers this season

But a player number has nothing to do with his level and Martial was coming off a successful first season. Also Zlatan played with different numbers without problem.
 
Are modern players really such a bunch of spoiled man babies that having their shirt number changed destroys their confidence? feck me let's hope none of them ever have an actual problem to deal with!?!
 
Just phoned the Adidas store and asked about tops being sold with Martial 11....the guy was fecking clueless.

I’ve got the receipt and everything else and we bought the new home top with Martial 11 on the 18th May so almost 3 months ago. We have the player name and number sheet too where they promote Martial has one of the top 5 most popular.

The guy literally turned around on the phone and said ‘but it’s not our problem, what if he changes his number again tomorrow’.....

I’m fuming to be honest, the top with Martial 11 on the back was £80, He’s changed number the day the season starts, there must be thousands with a messed up shirt.
 
Surely by now people know to wait to buy shirts with numbers on the back till the numbers are confirmed for the season? It's your fault, not Adidas.
 
Surely by now people know to wait to buy shirts with numbers on the back till the numbers are confirmed for the season? It's your fault, not Adidas.

Yeah, I'm sorry @Castia but on the 18th May you couldn't even tell whether the player would be on the team, let alone his number. If you want accurate shirt numbers, it's best to wait until september before purchasing new shirts.
 
Just phoned the Adidas store and asked about tops being sold with Martial 11....the guy was fecking clueless.

I’ve got the receipt and everything else and we bought the new home top with Martial 11 on the 18th May so almost 3 months ago. We have the player name and number sheet too where they promote Martial has one of the top 5 most popular.

The guy literally turned around on the phone and said ‘but it’s not our problem, what if he changes his number again tomorrow’.....

I’m fuming to be honest, the top with Martial 11 on the back was £80, He’s changed number the day the season starts, there must be thousands with a messed up shirt.

Console yourself with the fact that you’ve now got a historical shirt - and if Martial explodes from here on, you hang the shirt on the livingroom wall and tell the story to your grandchildren when you’re old.
 
This is so ridiculous in every possible way. From a grown man having his confidence destroyed by a different number on the back of his shirt to somehow him now realizing there are no excuses anymore because he got his number back? If any player actually cares that much about a shirt number then they don't have the mentality to succeed at the top.
 
This is so ridiculous in every possible way. From a grown man having his confidence destroyed by a different number on the back of his shirt to somehow him now realizing there are no excuses anymore because he got his number back? If any player actually cares that much about a shirt number then they don't have the mentality to succeed at the top.

Antonio Valencia did a similar round.
 
Surely by now people know to wait to buy shirts with numbers on the back till the numbers are confirmed for the season? It's your fault, not Adidas.
Yeah, I'm sorry @Castia but on the 18th May you couldn't even tell whether the player would be on the team, let alone his number. If you want accurate shirt numbers, it's best to wait until september before purchasing new shirts.

Gotta agree with the 2 posters above unfortunately, if the numbers haven't been confirmed I'd always wait.
 
Surely by now people know to wait to buy shirts with numbers on the back till the numbers are confirmed for the season? It's your fault, not Adidas.


They literally had Martial 11 shirts made up in store, if he’s gonna change number then fine but doing it on the day the season kicks off is too late imo.

Players being sold is at your own risk that’s fair enough (one reason why he didn’t get Pogba) but a player changing his squad number is pretty rare.
 
Just phoned the Adidas store and asked about tops being sold with Martial 11....the guy was fecking clueless.

I’ve got the receipt and everything else and we bought the new home top with Martial 11 on the 18th May so almost 3 months ago. We have the player name and number sheet too where they promote Martial has one of the top 5 most popular.

The guy literally turned around on the phone and said ‘but it’s not our problem, what if he changes his number again tomorrow’.....

I’m fuming to be honest, the top with Martial 11 on the back was £80, He’s changed number the day the season starts, there must be thousands with a messed up shirt.
That's ridiculous. Guess the timing can't be helped - we couldn't change the number until Lukaku left - but surely they could offer you half-price on a new shirt or something?
 
This is so ridiculous in every possible way. From a grown man having his confidence destroyed by a different number on the back of his shirt to somehow him now realizing there are no excuses anymore because he got his number back? If any player actually cares that much about a shirt number then they don't have the mentality to succeed at the top.

He has never been destroyed by a different number, he didn't like the way it happened and moved on. The issue is that it was done in a disrespectful manner which is something that most would take offense with and athletes are often superstitious, some players will always pick certain numbers or their multiples.
 
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This is so ridiculous in every possible way. From a grown man having his confidence destroyed by a different number on the back of his shirt to somehow him now realizing there are no excuses anymore because he got his number back? If any player actually cares that much about a shirt number then they don't have the mentality to succeed at the top.
If shirt numbers don’t matter to players then why did Rooney switch from no. 8 to 10? Why did Ronaldo switch from 9 to 7 after his first season at Madrid? How about Valencia and Luke Shaw switching to numbers they felt more comfortable in? It’s normal for players to want particular numbers, even at Sunday league level, I don’t know why people pretend that Martial didn’t have the right to feel aggrieved at the way this was handled, particularly after a successful season from him.
 
This is so ridiculous in every possible way. From a grown man having his confidence destroyed by a different number on the back of his shirt to somehow him now realizing there are no excuses anymore because he got his number back? If any player actually cares that much about a shirt number then they don't have the mentality to succeed at the top.
Are you relying on rubbish tabloid papers that reported that Martial was upset to lose the 9? If I'm correct, we don't know whether or not it truly affected him beyond a minor nuisance. We certainly can't fecking say that the shirt number changes either "destroyed his confidence", or later made him "realise there are no more excuses".
 
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Really looking forward to seeing him play. A talent that for various much discussed reasons we have not quite the best out of since his debut season.

Restoring the number is a mark of faith and playing him centrally with the opportunity to rotate during the game in a fluid front 3/4 an indicator that Ole and his team recognise his strengths.

He was was the most clinical striker in the premier league last season and his assists/goals record per minute is very impressive so be very interesting to see how that potential looks after more consistent game time.
 
He has never been destroyed by a different number, he didn't like the way it happened and moved on. The issue is that it was done in a disrespectful manner which is something that most would take offense with and athletes are often superstitious, some players will always pick certain numbers or their multiples.
Yep. Literally everyone would be annoyed at being sidelined for a new arrival at work.
 
I think they key is to keep the French connection close. Play Pogba further up to get the most out of AM9.