Martial has got to remain at United | No, he hasn't been unfollowing United players on Instagram

There wouldn't be an issue if Jose subbed Lukaku more often. Selling Martial would be pretty poor treatment and leave us with Rashford as our main LW once Sanchez declines, which I don't see working anyway. Unless he wants to leave (wouldn't surprise me at all), we shouldn't sell him. If the club's desperate for Rashford to make it here, let him properly deputise for Lukaku instead of only playing him at striker once in a blue moon.
 
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I’ve mentioned this before in a different thread but I don’t believe we will see Martial in a league again this season unless we are in deep trouble in a match. He needs one more league goal to trigger a £8m payment to Monaco and whilst there is a question mark over whether he is going to sign a new contract or not I think he will be a last resort as it doesn’t make any financial sense to pay that figure if there are concerns he is going to leave. I know we were in trouble against City but Mourinho’s first choice was to go for Rashford and as things turned out he didn’t need to bring any further attackers on as we were trying to see out the game. I think the next time we see Martial will be in the FA Cup
 
Boy Wonder said:
I’ve mentioned this before in a different thread but I don’t believe we will see Martial in a league again this season unless we are in deep trouble in a match. He needs one more league goal to trigger a £8m payment to Monaco and whilst there is a question mark over whether he is going to sign a new contract or not I think he will be a last resort as it doesn’t make any financial sense to pay that figure if there are concerns he is going to leave. I know we were in trouble against City but Mourinho’s first choice was to go for Rashford and as things turned out he didn’t need to bring any further attackers on as we were trying to see out the game. I think the next time we see Martial will be in the FA Cup
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No he doesn't.

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First Team Competitive Matches means all competitions. He achieved that last season and is currently on 36 goals for us (second highest scorer from our current squad with Mata being the top scorer on 39).

Him not playing right now is purely because we don't need him and have done better without him over the past few games. He'll likely play against Bournemouth but that will be because we will be resting a few of our first teamers for the Spurs game in the FA Cup.
 
A fantastic talent, that is amazing on his day, but has he ever put in that performance that Sanchez just did? Where he willed the team to a win against the best team in the PL? For the 3rd goal on the set piece, Sanchez berated his team mates to get in the box and then delivered the perfect cross.

I'm genuinely asking, have we ever been completely destroyed in a half, only for Martial to go beast mode in the 2nd half and be instrumental in 3 goals against a top team?

Home fixtures:
Tottenham - good impact off the bench
City - so-so
Chelsea - good first half, don't know why he was taken off

Away fixtures:
Liverpool - so-so
Chelsea - ineffective off the bench
Arsenal - started off well, but was struggling to break from deep like Lingard and Pogba
Tottenham - poor


I think Martial's best performance in a United shirt was against Everton in the FA cup, but that was not a game like this, where we looked dead and buried at half time.
 
I’m still optimistic that Sanchez and Martial can start together and perform effectively. He’s our most promising young attacker.
 
breakout67 said:
I'm genuinely asking, have we ever been completely destroyed in a half, only for Martial to go beast mode in the 2nd half and be instrumental in 3 goals against a top team?
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That is a pretty precise question and one that you could also ask about nearly everyone in our squad for the answer to be no. Since Fergie retired, most of the games we've conceded a few in at the start we've failed to recover from. This season - and the last few games especially - Mourinho's brought back that fighting spirit against Palace and now City.

I do understand what you're getting at though. As well as that Everton game, I'd also say the away game against CSKA Moscow this season was one of his best performances. Had a hand in all four goals. When he goes, that on-pitch chemistry with Lukaku is one thing I'll miss.
 
He's a great talent but I think his best position will be as a striker and that's where Rashford will also be at his best, not to mention Lukaku who's further along than both in his development. We've not used him in a role to get the best out of him but even then I haven't seen any clear improvement in his individual attributes.
 
It's not looking good for Martial at United. Such a shame. Few young players as exciting as him when he's in full flow IMO. The kind, that really lifts onlookers. I believe he's going to be absolutely top class but I can only hope that Mourinho rates him as highly as I do. Have to say I'm not positive about it. As of now you don't get the feeling that Jose sees him as a future match winner in one of his teams and that the player himself needs regular game time.
 
Think he will go, he is almost 23 already, he needs games ASAP, he needs place in a starting line-up to progress, these 10-15 minutes a game, one game in, one game out bullshit simply does not cut it. With Sanchez here the writing is on the wall that Jose simply does not believe Martial can be a definite starter.
I would be sad if he will go, because most likely it will wasted opportunity, we will lose a player who could be a star in 2-3 years for 4-5 years at least. Someone you can build a team around. We will also squander a lot of money invested, since i don't believe we will get a proper price for him.
But in terms of the team balance he has to go in a way. Because we need a person who plays on the right side. Right now we simply do not have anyone.
 
Can't see him being happy with second, or even third choice on the left wing. Second game in a row where he's been an unused sub.

I have a feeling he will leave and Mourinho will go in for Bale, Mahrez or Willian to play on the right.

Sanchez Lukaku Winger

If he does leave, then we need to get a buy back clause installed. I guess that's if he would want one.
 
Why is it that fans will give players an unlimited number of chances whilst we've got a poll running on here which suggests 50% of our online fans at least are unhappy with Jose???

Martial has shown glimpses of his undoubted ability, but that's all it's been glimpses. A good half-hour here, a decent finish there. Rarely does he put together a good 90-mins, let alone string together 5/6 good games in a row

Who's fault is that? The players. Who's responsibility is that? The players.

This is Manchester Utd, you shouldn't get unlimited opportunities and I've got to be honest I'm starting to think for the right offer we should look at selling
 
Damien said:
That is a pretty precise question and one that you could also ask about nearly everyone in our squad for the answer to be no. Since Fergie retired, most of the games we've conceded a few in at the start we've failed to recover from. This season - and the last few games especially - Mourinho's brought back that fighting spirit against Palace and now City.

I do understand what you're getting at though. As well as that Everton game, I'd also say the away game against CSKA Moscow this season was one of his best performances. Had a hand in all four goals. When he goes, that on-pitch chemistry with Lukaku is one thing I'll miss.
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Yes I loved that Chemistry when Lukaku and Martial played as a strike partnership.

But you've alluded to a very tough situation. Martial is a confidence player, create the right environment for him and he'll be a top top player (his first season). But then you have Sanchez, who has so much quality and determination that he has that Zlatan effect of dragging the team to a higher level.

I don't think we win that game if we replace Sanchez with Martial. That is not a criticism of Martial, it's just not the type of player Martial is. He's a player that stays on the fringes of games and then does something special, whereas Sanchez demands to be in the game as much as possible and so can be a catalyst for fight backs like that.
 
Lentwood said:
Why is it that fans will give players an unlimited number of chances whilst we've got a poll running on here which suggests 50% of our online fans at least are unhappy with Jose???

Martial has shown glimpses of his undoubted ability, but that's all it's been glimpses. A good half-hour here, a decent finish there. Rarely does he put together a good 90-mins, let alone string together 5/6 good games in a row

Who's fault is that? The players. Who's responsibility is that? The players.

This is Manchester Utd, you shouldn't get unlimited opportunities and I've got to be honest I'm starting to think for the right offer we should look at selling
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I agree, I would sacrifice Martial all day long if it meant getting a proper right sided player instead.
 
I think Jose's still looking for that final piece in his attacking trio and just doesn't fancy Martial - with Rashford just being short of what he requires for a dedicated title push.

The Willian/Bale connections do feel quite strong but the former would be about Chelsea coughing up another player to us in the space of two seasons and the latter, well, fitness is obviously the big issue, even if that left foot would probably give us another dimension.

I hope it's neither - but this summer's business could be the difference between being champions and also-rans next term.
 
Manchester United, if we want to be competing with the best, need to have great players. I believe Martial can be a great player, he has the ability but lacks some consistency. Look at Real Madrid or Barcelona.

At Madrid they have: Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale, and Isco... but backing that up they have Asensio & Lucas.

At Barca they have: Messi, Suarez, Coutinho, and Iniesta... but they've also signed Dembele for massive money, who has huge talent.

Nobody would be surprised if there was an El Classico where Dembele and Asensio didn't start. Martial, for me, should be compared with these players, not with Ronaldo and Messi, or Suarez and Bale for that matter.

We have: Lukaku, Sanchez, Mata, and Lingard... backed up by the young, but exciting Rashford and Martial. Ibrahimovic has moved on.

Real have fallen short this season because although Ronaldo's goal return is still excellent, for one reason or another, Benzema & Bale have failed to live up to their billing.
Asensio and Isco have been brilliant in games, but inconsistent.

We've fallen short because although Lukaku has been scoring well, Ibrahimovic missed the season through injury; Sanchez has just joined, and is taking time to get up to speed; and although Mata has given our team balance and control, he has been inconsistent in his effectiveness at breaking teams down this season.

We're doing ok, but for me, it's more likely to be Mata at risk rather than Martial.
 
If we buy another CM and Pogba plays in his favoured role, then he'll really struggling for game time next season. Another attacking position is gone.
 
AlexUTD said:
If we get two world class fullbacks this summer we can use 5-3-2 and Martial/Sanchez/Lukaku can share those 2 striker spots.It is a long season.
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Not sure if Martial will be prepared for another season playing second fiddle, and even if he was I can't see Jose adjusting the formation in order to please a guy who, in the 3 years he has been at the club, has shown practically zero progression - you could even argue that he has degressed.

Jose's management style doesn't work for everyone, if Martial wishes to further his career a move away seems inevitable.
 
Man one good half from sanchez and you would think he is the greatest player ever now. Also getting a pass is lingard. I get he was being mainly used as a runner essentially but holy shit was he god awful with the ball. I mean like straight losing the ball whenever he tried to dribble it i swear. Considering his stats per 90 i think martial gets the shaft quite a bit from mou and the fans. Cant imagine him having a first half like sanchez and being allowed to come back out for the second. Not counting the repeated games where sanchez loses the ball over and over and was allowed to remain. But whatever it is what it is. Really hope we don't move him on and instead really try to find ways to incorporate not only him but also rashford better into this side. Thanks to adding sanchez we no longer see both martial and rashford at some point in a game, but now sometimes barely get the one.
 
He surly is talented and very technical and will become a start player but the big question is how long would you wait for a player to develop in a very demanding club ? 3 seasons ? 4 maximum ? He certainly had his chance to prove his worth.

Would other Big European clubs wait that long for a player to develop with inconsistent performances and risk losing on silverware?

His weakness is defiantly mental strength and he is very young and will develop that surly given 2-3 more seasons. Again I think Mourinho does not want to wait that long and wants someone that will make an impact immediately and consistently to actually win something. If it was me I would loan him out for one season and assess the situation after that but I would not sell him this summer.
 
FerociousCorgis said:
Man one good half from sanchez and you would think he is the greatest player ever now. Also getting a pass is lingard. I get he was being mainly used as a runner essentially but holy shit was he god awful with the ball. I mean like straight losing the ball whenever he tried to dribble it i swear. Considering his stats per 90 i think martial gets the shaft quite a bit from mou and the fans. Cant imagine him having a first half like sanchez and being allowed to come back out for the second. Not counting the repeated games where sanchez loses the ball over and over and was allowed to remain. But whatever it is what it is. Really hope we don't move him on and instead really try to find ways to incorporate not only him but also rashford better into this side. Thanks to adding sanchez we no longer see both martial and rashford at some point in a game, but now sometimes barely get the one.
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Hang about. You cant criticise Lingard and say he is getting off lightly, then use Martials stats per minute as a reason for him to be starting. Lingards stats are very similar in terms of productivity, except he works a hell of a lot harder for the team.

The difference is Martial will quite happily spent the majority of the game on its periphery, whereas Sanchez and Lingard demand to be involved. If the team are being starved of the ball they’ll hound defenders to win it back, if the game is passing them by they’ll be constantly on the move to find space to receive a pass. Martial simply doesn’t do that. He’s a fantastic player but at the moment he’s a luxury we can’t afford.
 
f_to_z said:
He surly is talented and very technical and will become a start player but the big question is how long would you wait for a player to develop in a very demanding club ? 3 seasons ? 4 maximum ? He certainly had his chance to prove his worth.

Would other Big European clubs wait that long for a player to develop with inconsistent performances and risk losing on silverware?

His weakness is defiantly mental strength and he is very young and will develop that surly given 2-3 more seasons. Again I think Mourinho does not want to wait that long and wants someone that will make an impact immediately and consistently to actually win something. If it was me I would loan him out for one season and assess the situation after that but I would not sell him this summer.
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How long did we keep Anderson?
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Yup, because everyone is basing their thoughts on Sanchez entirely on that one half @FerociousCorgis :rolleyes:

Let's just forget he's been one of the best players in the World for about a decade.
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He’s right though. What did he achieve at Barca? Nothing. Who thought he was the best player at Arsenal? Nobody. Did anyone compete with us for his signature? Of course not.
 
Decomposing In Paris said:
Manchester United, if we want to be competing with the best, need to have great players. I believe Martial can be a great player, he has the ability but lacks some consistency. Look at Real Madrid or Barcelona.

At Madrid they have: Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale, and Isco... but backing that up they have Asensio & Lucas.

At Barca they have: Messi, Suarez, Coutinho, and Iniesta... but they've also signed Dembele for massive money, who has huge talent.

Nobody would be surprised if there was an El Classico where Dembele and Asensio didn't start. Martial, for me, should be compared with these players, not with Ronaldo and Messi, or Suarez and Bale for that matter.

We have: Lukaku, Sanchez, Mata, and Lingard... backed up by the young, but exciting Rashford and Martial. Ibrahimovic has moved on.

Real have fallen short this season because although Ronaldo's goal return is still excellent, for one reason or another, Benzema & Bale have failed to live up to their billing.
Asensio and Isco have been brilliant in games, but inconsistent.

We've fallen short because although Lukaku has been scoring well, Ibrahimovic missed the season through injury; Sanchez has just joined, and is taking time to get up to speed; and although Mata has given our team balance and control, he has been inconsistent in his effectiveness at breaking teams down this season.

We're doing ok, but for me, it's more likely to be Mata at risk rather than Martial.
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The bold part is spot on.
 
He, along with Rashford and Pogba, is the future of the club. We simply can't let him leave. The cost of replacing him would more than take up the price we'd get if we sold him. There's simply no chance that we do that.
 
ivaldo said:
He’s right though. What did he achieve at Barca? Nothing. Who thought he was the best player at Arsenal? Nobody. Did anyone compete with us for his signature? Of course not.
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and apparently we can overlook his shit contributions for us since joining. He scored his first goal on a missed pk, went a huge stretch with nothing but turnover after turnover, then finally has a couple assists in a half after getting going a bit against swansea. I dont care what he has done for the last decade. He will turn 30 next season, and relies heavily on pace. Can already see that going. Not sure he really fits in, hella sure not at LW where we were actually well stocked. I judge him on what he has done since being here, and that has been a lot less than martial was giving us when he had just won man of the month award.
 
ivaldo said:
Hang about. You cant criticise Lingard and say he is getting off lightly, then use Martials stats per minute as a reason for him to be starting. Lingards stats are very similar in terms of productivity, except he works a hell of a lot harder for the team.

The difference is Martial will quite happily spent the majority of the game on its periphery, whereas Sanchez and Lingard demand to be involved. If the team are being starved of the ball they’ll hound defenders to win it back, if the game is passing them by they’ll be constantly on the move to find space to receive a pass. Martial simply doesn’t do that. He’s a fantastic player but at the moment he’s a luxury we can’t afford.
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lingard and martial occupy different positions and roles. And i think lingard sure as hell didnt demand to be involved against city. He is more than happy running around without the ball. Probably because it seemed he literally lost it every time he actually tried dribbling. I just found it funny that people claim martial doesnt do anything to earn his time when in reality he has. Either with stats that show he was doing pretty well at LW when he actually gets time there and can be man of the month for us if we actually try and incorporate him.

Ive got no problems if we use lingard in very specific jobs like yesterday, but i reallllllly don't think he should be a starter over martial. Ive seen some people list lingard in a tier above martial as people who should be starter, and i just dont see it.
 
He’s too good a player to let go.

Where he fits in and gets game time from is another question.
Yes his form has been hit and miss but so has almost every Utd player this last few seasons.
 
Boy Wonder said:
I’ve mentioned this before in a different thread but I don’t believe we will see Martial in a league again this season unless we are in deep trouble in a match. He needs one more league goal to trigger a £8m payment to Monaco and whilst there is a question mark over whether he is going to sign a new contract or not I think he will be a last resort as it doesn’t make any financial sense to pay that figure if there are concerns he is going to leave. I know we were in trouble against City but Mourinho’s first choice was to go for Rashford and as things turned out he didn’t need to bring any further attackers on as we were trying to see out the game. I think the next time we see Martial will be in the FA Cup
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I’ll give you my house if he doesn’t play anymore in the league.
 
I think Martial is an amazing player and really should be keeping him. Before Sanchez arrived he was playing some of his best matches to be fair.

But it’s unfortunate we have a lot of of left wingers so the heart says keep him and he’ll find a role in the starting 11 eventually. Head says for the team to progress we need a right winger. It’s a difficult one but I’d still much rather keep him and see what happens in the future.

Although as a poster above said I can’t see Martial doing what Sanchez did against city by dragging us into the game, giving directions and stamping his authority on a match.
 
Stu1975 said:
He’s too good a player to let go.

Where he fits in and gets game time from is another question.
Yes his form has been hit and miss but so has almost every Utd player this last few seasons.
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Im worried about him and rashfords development if Sanchez is at LW and Lukaku is at ST, plus with mou not really using 2 up top much. Im sure they can get some ok appearance stats and the odd start, but dont think it helps either of them to be in that situation, and don't see how they both can be in there and still develop as well as being happy. We shall see. Very worried martial is the odd man out.
 
SS said:
There wouldn't be an issue if Jose subbed Lukaku more often.
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I'd actually be happy to see this. In a game like the last I don't trust Martial to have enough about him, but in most I'd be keen to see him at least brought on here.

Personally, I think the best thing for him is a loan to a midtable PL club. There would surely be interest and he could learn week in week out. People would say he's being treated badly though, and I get the impression he or his agent thinks he's above that.
 
FerociousCorgis said:
Im worried about him and rashfords development if Sanchez is at LW and Lukaku is at ST, plus with mou not really using 2 up top much. Im sure they can get some ok appearance stats and the odd start, but dont think it helps either of them to be in that situation, and don't see how they both can be in there and still develop as well as being happy. We shall see. Very worried martial is the odd man out.
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That's exactly what he is, though (at least in the eyes of the man currently running the club). Martial likely feels the same way, which is why leaving the club for a new challenge is probably very appealing to him at this point in his career. He won't play second fiddle forever, he is far to good player for that.

I agree with your earlier point regarding the poor treatment he recieved from Jose, but neither Sanchez or Lingard should be held accountable for that. Lingard has been arguably our most productive forward player this season after Lukaku, and Sanchez' reputation speaks for itself.

The logic behind the decision to replace the talented but inconsistent Martial, with one of the prems most explosive forward players of the last 5 years (Sanchez), is perfectly sound. Even if it was at the expense of out PotM at the time. I was against the idea at the time, still am to an extent, but you can understand why Jose did it.
 
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FerociousCorgis said:
lingard and martial occupy different positions and roles. And i think lingard sure as hell didnt demand to be involved against city. He is more than happy running around without the ball. Probably because it seemed he literally lost it every time he actually tried dribbling. I just found it funny that people claim martial doesnt do anything to earn his time when in reality he has. Either with stats that show he was doing pretty well at LW when he actually gets time there and can be man of the month for us if we actually try and incorporate him.

Ive got no problems if we use lingard in very specific jobs like yesterday, but i reallllllly don't think he should be a starter over martial. Ive seen some people list lingard in a tier above martial as people who should be starter, and i just dont see it.
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That's great but you were the one to make the Lingard comparison to begin with!

You're missing the bit where Lingard is as productive as De Bruyne has been, you know, that player who will likely be named player of the year. You can degrade Lingard's performances by making out all he does is work hard all you want, but for a man with a hard on for stats you sure do like to skim over them when it comes to Lingard. Lingard is contributing about the same offensively as Martial, while providing significantly more defensively. Based on this season, and who deserves to be in the side, it's no comparison.

FerociousCorgis said:
and apparently we can overlook his shit contributions for us since joining. He scored his first goal on a missed pk, went a huge stretch with nothing but turnover after turnover, then finally has a couple assists in a half after getting going a bit against swansea. I dont care what he has done for the last decade. He will turn 30 next season, and relies heavily on pace. Can already see that going. Not sure he really fits in, hella sure not at LW where we were actually well stocked. I judge him on what he has done since being here, and that has been a lot less than martial was giving us when he had just won man of the month award.
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Oh yeah, the way he picked out Pogba with that beautifully weighted pass, that was all about pace!

"He will turn 30 next season" :lol: oh you're one of them are ya? You pretend everything he acheived up to 3 months ago is irrelevant? He's only just joined us ffs. He's played 8 bloody games in the PL!
Fine, you write off a decade of top class football on the back of 6 below par games at a new club. I genuinely can't argue with someone with that kind of view.
 
FerociousCorgis said:
Im worried about him and rashfords development if Sanchez is at LW and Lukaku is at ST, plus with mou not really using 2 up top much. Im sure they can get some ok appearance stats and the odd start, but dont think it helps either of them to be in that situation, and don't see how they both can be in there and still develop as well as being happy. We shall see. Very worried martial is the odd man out.
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Yeah it would appear that way at the moment although things can change quickly in football but we are quite spoilt in that position and there is no way the three of them will remain plying for one spot or even possibly starting anywhere else other than up top which I can’t see happening too often.
 
FerociousCorgis said:
and apparently we can overlook his shit contributions for us since joining. He scored his first goal on a missed pk, went a huge stretch with nothing but turnover after turnover, then finally has a couple assists in a half after getting going a bit against swansea. I dont care what he has done for the last decade. He will turn 30 next season, and relies heavily on pace. Can already see that going. Not sure he really fits in, hella sure not at LW where we were actually well stocked. I judge him on what he has done since being here, and that has been a lot less than martial was giving us when he had just won man of the month award.
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He doesn't. He relies on his technical abilities such as picking out passes, crossing and finishing.

I can't even imagine Martial even getting close to intercepting the ball here in the build up to our goal. Getting outworked by a "30 year old", is even worse.

 
I can't believe some of the shite I'm reading - Martial is a potential future Bal'on dor winner, yes his ceiling is that high at the age of 21. Thinking we should sideline him for a 30-year-old Sanchez is the sort of decision to had us buying Pogba back for 90 million quid. The shortsighted and frankly idiotic posting in this place sometimes. mindboggling stuff.

Mourinho has always been a terrible man-manager unable to handle mercurial talents - see De Bruyne and Salah - and really ask yourself if you think Martial should continue being treated as he currently is.
 
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