Yep I agree with this plus Martial is more clinical in front of goal if I recall correctly.
Anthony Martial #9
- Thread starter Florida Man
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Maybe his knee and the defender at the same time.
Didn't matter, he was in the right spot.
Yeah, I don't think Martial can go to that route of smashing the ball with his lace.
He can go to Messi's route and become the king of placing shots. I'd prefer that than smashing it in like Rashford.
surely Martial, a professional footballer with good technique, can just smash the football straight if he wanted to?
Martial is looking a lot leaner this season, than the last few years when he bulked up
Sure he can. He's been able to do it since the age of 14-15. He just does not use this shooting technique often. However, there are still posters on here who claim that Tony can not smash the football straight. Ridiculous claim that.
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Ridiculous indeed. I guess in matches he just resorts to what he finds the best technique for him. It wouldn't be bad for him to vary the angles he's aiming at least.
This really is the key. If he gets into those areas more often his goalscoring stats will significantly improve.
I remember a conversation on here once where someone was complaining he would only finish at the far post. That day I lost a little faith in humanity.
Anyway I think his goal against Norwich is the laces but this is a damn stupid conversation anyway. If the need arises I’m more than positive a professional footballer will be able to strike a ball with the laces when going for a finish. Personally I would think side footing is a more clinical approach to finishing.
I've always agreed that this guy has all the talent necessary to become world class. I've also always been frustrated with his lack of application. There were always mitigating factors you could argue, moved out wide, shirt number switch, zlatan coming in etc. Now all these potential excuses are gone.
He's playing up front, has his number back and along with Rashford is the main man. No more excuses. He has to show this year what he's capable of.
He's playing up front, has his number back and along with Rashford is the main man. No more excuses. He has to show this year what he's capable of.
His pass to Pogba for the fourth was perfection. Ole and his team would be delighted. Only Sky picked up on its quality.
His first touch was to his right to pull the defender behind him out of the channel Pogba was going to run through and he did this perfectly as the defender moved. Then he had to adjust his body to play the perfect weighted pass into Pogba who had accelerated and did not need to break stride. I have not seen a player for us do that since Cantona. Absolute class.
His first touch was to his right to pull the defender behind him out of the channel Pogba was going to run through and he did this perfectly as the defender moved. Then he had to adjust his body to play the perfect weighted pass into Pogba who had accelerated and did not need to break stride. I have not seen a player for us do that since Cantona. Absolute class.
Who the hell cares???
He places the ball in hard to save parts of the goal is arguably a safer way of scoring than smashing it and hoping.
Let him play the way he chooses to. If you want screamers then you should be looking at Rashford. He will give you what you want oh maybe not it’s in row z again.
A lot of people keep saying something similar but seem to forget he is 23 and will be 24 in December. Agreed he needs to start showing signs of improvement in his general output but are people really expecting him to get over 20 goals this season? If he gets somewhere between 15-20 is that viewed as a failure and we need to look somewhere else for a striker?
If he gets somewhere between 15-20 and continues to do the things he has been doing in pre- season I’ll be delighted for him and would Class that as a good improvement and then next year maybe hope he can breach that 20 goal a season ceiling but that isn’t an easy thing to do.
15-20 goals in league or all competitions?
Of course he can, but a modern goalkeeper will save anything that's not right in the corners. You can't beat them with power like you could in previous decades. Rashford hits the ball with more power but he's not as accurate which is why Martial has generally matched or outscored him in the last couple of seasons.
I'm just saying there are no excuses now so we'll see what he can do by the end of the season but I would expect our no9 to be a regular on the scoresheet!
Encouraging signs from Martial as a #9 in Ole's system.
Drops deep and interchanges with Rashford
Comes short
Martial dropping deep led to Greenwood almost scoring from Bisakka's cross.
Drops deep and interchanges with Rashford
Comes short
Martial dropping deep led to Greenwood almost scoring from Bisakka's cross.
Very deep
Spins Jorginho
From his back to goal to making United go on the offensive
Picks out Pereira
However ...
Doesn't always come off
As the pass led to a turnover in possession and a chance for Barkley
Spins Jorginho
From his back to goal to making United go on the offensive
Picks out Pereira
However ...
Doesn't always come off
As the pass led to a turnover in possession and a chance for Barkley
I feel the difference between Martial and Rashford is quite simple. Rashford relies on power and feels using his pace and powerful shot will yield the best results for him whereas Martial is more about finesse. He doesn’t rely on power but has better technical ability. In my eyes it’s important to have that balance. Martial looks like he glides across the pitch and picks his shots with precision. Rashford reminds me of Van Nistelrooy in terms of power and strength whilst Martial has an element of Henry about him where I feel he’s much more clinical than Rashford. It prefer Rashford up top with Martial playing off him.