Memphis Depay vs Anthony Martial

It's quite obvious right now that Martial is the better player. He showed Depay how to do a job on the left today and the frightening thing about it was that he wasn't even playing in his natural position.

This keeps being mentioned over and over again and it's starting to really piss me off :lol:. Martial in a very familiar position against Everton. In his very short, you could easily find more games with him playing on the left than as a striker.
 
You'll always have people with weird opinions like that, as long as the team wins, it doesn't matter where Martial plays. Some ridiculous crying over a tactical change which worked fantastically well by many posters.

You are missing the point. Im saying option 1 is better and performs better then option 2. What LVG is doing is making sure Rooney is in the team which is absolutely ridiculous considering his form this season. And yes before you start mentioning Memphis, Memphis has been A LOT better then Rooney this season. And that says a lot when we consider Memphis a deserved bench warmer atm. its just pure bias to punish Memphis for bad form, while keeping Rooney in the squad regardless of his form. Memphis should have played over Rooney in a fair world. And ppl wil say the sub/change was brilliant, you dont know how it would have been with Memphis there and Martial as a striker and neither do I. But you cannot convince me that you find Rooney's contribution to the team worse then Memphis.

What should be played:

Memphis - Martial - Mata (OOP)

Herrera
And if Memphis doesn't perform? Then put Young in. If Young doesn't perform or is injured? Then play Perreira. But you cannot, and i cannot tell this enough, keep Rooney in that XI every week with the way he performs. Its a disgrace to the other players in our squad who simply perform better, but sit on the damn bench for no legit reason at all. And this also applies to putting great performing players out of position for Rooney to fit in.
 
You can tell Martial is class by watching him, he does all the things you want from a footballer and is just good at football, he definitely outshines Memphis.
I have been a bit let down by Memphis but saying that at times he has had some really good moments so hopefully he will show that more often.
 
I don't think he's looked very fast at all, at least not for a winger. And he hasn't looked strong on the ball either, being knocked off easily.

And apart from the Brugge game his finishing has been poor. I don't see how you can think otherwise, he's missed every chance he's had, apart from the open goal against Sunderland.
just don't remember all these chances that he missed
 
I think Martial's attitude and calm head helps alot on the pitch. He doesn't get frustrated and isn't trying to force anything but plays simple when he needs to.
Memphis holds on to the ball for too long and tries to dribble through a wall, he got alot of talent, it's just that he needs to not try so hard and instead pass himself out of the problems quicker
 
I don't have any doubt that Memphis will come good... He has shown plenty of moments of quality, it just hasn't been sustained throughout a match or consistent. He's clearly still getting to grips with the league, and that'll take time. He gets in plenty of good positions even when he's out of form, so once he gets his confidence back I'm sure he'll start banging in the goals. He's not on the same level of Martial is, but then again, I don't think there's a u21 player in the world who is. Once he gets more accustomed to the league and at United, he'll be fine though.
 
You are missing the point. Im saying option 1 is better and performs better then option 2. What LVG is doing is making sure Rooney is in the team which is absolutely ridiculous considering his form this season. And yes before you start mentioning Memphis, Memphis has been A LOT better then Rooney this season. And that says a lot when we consider Memphis a deserved bench warmer atm. its just pure bias to punish Memphis for bad form, while keeping Rooney in the squad regardless of his form. Memphis should have played over Rooney in a fair world. And ppl wil say the sub/change was brilliant, you dont know how it would have been with Memphis there and Martial as a striker and neither do I. But you cannot convince me that you find Rooney's contribution to the team worse then Memphis.

What should be played:

Memphis - Martial - Mata (OOP)

Herrera
And if Memphis doesn't perform? Then put Young in. If Young doesn't perform or is injured? Then play Perreira. But you cannot, and i cannot tell this enough, keep Rooney in that XI every week with the way he performs. Its a disgrace to the other players in our squad who simply perform better, but sit on the damn bench for no legit reason at all. And this also applies to putting great performing players out of position for Rooney to fit in.

I can only judge what we've been given and not speculate speculations. The match against Everton was the best performance of the season and Memphis was nowhere to be seen. Tbh, if it were up to me, neither Rooney nor Memphis would start but I accept that Rooney will all the time because he is such an important player at the club. Memphis truly deserves to be benched right now, he's been really bad. I'd rather have Rooney/Martial in any combo than have Memphis start and play with either of them at the moment.
 
I just not understand where this negativity is coming from, especially after what Smalling has done by rewarding our patience and turning into one of the best defenders in the Prem, if not the world.

How many times have we seen players struggle to adjust while others hit the ground running. Yes Martial and Memphis are both young, but you can't really compare them as they are two different players. If we had bought Felipe Anderson, as an example; than OK compare them together, but you can't compare Martial and Memphis.

This conversation should be shelved until Christmas of next season at the very least. Better players on current ability than Memphis, AdM a notable example, have struggled before, and plenty of others will continue to struggle. Just give them time.

He's young, has had to adapt to an almost completely different game in comparing the Prem to the Eredivise, not to mention a new country and all the difficulties that are associated with it off the pitch. I think that goes unnoticed a lot with every transfer. It's difficult for me moving from city to city, let alone a new country. I think it's no coincidence that Memphis has played well in the UCL, albeit against some inferior teams, because their style of play is different than what he faces every weekend.

Smalling is one of the best defenders in the world now?
 
Absolutely. I can't name five centre-backs who have been better than him this season so far in Europe. Can you? He's been outstanding.

And I watch way too much football all acroos the top leagues.

Shouldn't we first wait for 2-3 great seasons before putting such claim?
 
Shouldn't we first wait for 2-3 great seasons before putting such claim?

I said so far this season, so why wait 2-3 great seasons? I haven't put in a bold claim like 'he's been one of the best in the world for three seasons's running'. His current level is world class and top 5 in Europe IMO, that's all I'm saying. But I'm going off topic here...
 
I said so far this season, so why wait 2-3 great seasons? I haven't put in a bold claim like 'he's been one of the best in the world for three seasons's running'. His current level is world class and top 5 in Europe IMO, that's all I'm saying. But I'm going off topic here...

How many leagues do you follow?
 
One of them is a footballing freak who the club spent a mini fortune on for what is now obvious reasons, and the other is a regular developing 21 year old prospect. There's no contest currently.

Give Depay time and in sure he'll reach a high enough level though. LVG hasn't being starting him up until now for nothing.
 
I said so far this season, so why wait 2-3 great seasons? I haven't put in a bold claim like 'he's been one of the best in the world for three seasons's running'. His current level is world class and top 5 in Europe IMO, that's all I'm saying. But I'm going off topic here...

Totally agreed. Smalling has been superb, one of the best CB around Europe, at least out of the top tier teams.

What i dislike about Memphis is his general attitude and lifestyle. Not that i have anything against it, but I have seen it so many times, that i just can't fool myself again, not when a footballer has it. While he is still young and has the time to sort it out, i think if he is to be a great player he needs to settle down. I do believe a lot in Martial's type of player tough with that Bergkampesque coolness he has.
 
How many leagues do you follow?

I regularly watch Premier League (obviously), Championship (Friday evening games), Bundesliga, 2nd German Bundesliga, La Liga (only Barcelona, Real, Atletico TBH), Serie A (mainly Roma, Juventus and Milan) and the odd PSG and/or Marseille game. I also follow my local team in a crappy European league ;-)
 
I regularly watch Premier League (obviously), Championship (Friday evening games), Bundesliga, 2nd German Bundesliga, La Liga (only Barcelona, Real, Atletico TBH), Serie A (mainly Roma, Juventus and Milan) and the odd PSG and/or Marseille game. I also follow my local team in a crappy European league ;-)

Ahhh a man after my own heart (except Serie A - I can't watch Italian footy at all).

Who's your local team?
 
Think Memphis is just taking a bit longer to settle, Martial flying on having the great impact at the start. Memphis was excellent for us in Europe qualifyers
 
This and the other Memphis thread is one of the weirdest threads I've ever read.

I swear the only criticism Memphis is getting is in the context of:

"I don't understand the criticism he's getting, he's not been great and has some things to improve but that's only because he's young and learning".


Which in turn seems to invite people to post something of the same ilk.
 
Funny how things can turn quickly - Martial looks to be the one who can contribute to the team from day one while Memphis is struggling. I thought it would be the other way around.
 
Memphis clearly expected his natural athleticism to carry him as it did in Holland, and it is in Europe. Now hes realising PL defenders are a match for him physically and he needs to develop his game more.

Martial has that extremely rare ability to just ghost past people without any fuss. You cant train that and you cant really defend against it either.
 
Memphis need to keep it simple at least for now,once he gets on with pace of the league he would be brilliant.
Martial right now one step ahead of the defenders,he's focused with the job and executes it efficiently.
 
I regularly watch Premier League (obviously), Championship (Friday evening games), Bundesliga, 2nd German Bundesliga, La Liga (only Barcelona, Real, Atletico TBH), Serie A (mainly Roma, Juventus and Milan) and the odd PSG and/or Marseille game. I also follow my local team in a crappy European league ;-)

I wish I have so much time :jealous:
 
Absolutely. I can't name five centre-backs who have been better than him this season so far in Europe. Can you? He's been outstanding.

And I watch way too much football all acroos the top leagues.
Three months are not enough to claim someone as one of the best in the world. A key ingredient to that billing is consistency. That takes more than three months. I like Smalling but people tend to go overboard with players here, either negatively or positively.
 
Three months are not enough to claim someone as one of the best in the world. A key ingredient to that billing is consistency. That takes more than three months. I like Smalling but people tend to go overboard with players here, either negatively or positively.

To be fair, he's been great ever since the sending off vs City almost a year ago.
 
Good thing he had Ranieri then...

:lol: Jardim has been very good with the young players, they definitely improved, Martial for example is a lot more disciplined and he works more for the team.
 
To be fair, he's been great ever since the sending off vs City almost a year ago.
I agree, and I am glad. But if he makes one mistake, the same people will turn against him and call him terrible. They were people calling for him to be sold after that game. He first needs to prove himself against us the top top talent to attain that status. Wouldnt you just relish Messi v Smalling? :drool:
 
I agree, and I am glad. But if he makes one mistake, the same people will turn against him and call him terrible. They were people calling for him to be sold after that game. He first needs to prove himself against us the top top talent to attain that status. Wouldnt you just relish Messi v Smalling? :drool:

Yeah well that's just the way of the Caf unfortunately. But I agree, if we reach the final stages of the CL this year it should give us more of an indication as to just how good he is.

Haha, not really mate. It would be interesting to see though!
 
Yeah well that's just the way of the Caf unfortunately. But I agree, if we reach the final stages of the CL this year it should give us more of an indication as to just how good he is.

Haha, not really mate. It would be interesting to see though!
And he would actually get better by being tested against that class of players..If he could keep Messi in his back-pocket, what a moment that would be for him. I am also not very comfortable facing Barca yet, but one day that would be a sight to relish.
 
Looks like rough sailing ahead for Memphis. He's on a warning from LvG about not following the "philosophy" whatever that means.
 
We need to try a 3 of Memphis, Martial and Mata. Shame that Martial gets pushed back to LW to shoehorn in a relatively poor Rooney despite his goal yesterday. 3 good runs and 1 goal doesnt forgive the numerous games this season where his play has been pathetic. I hope we dont start to stifle Martial's development by still backing Wayne. Rooney needs to play great and score in the next game against City and contribute to us beating them before we start saying "Rooney is back" but a part of me thinks he wont do that and will struggle against City.

Lets hope he proves me wrong.
Even if Rooney does play well and does score against City, there will still be negative opinions that tend to the extreme about him on here. That you can definitely count on.
 
I don't think so. Martial starting on the left was circumstantial IMO. Van Gaal clearly wanted an extra body in midfield so he chose to play Herrera behind Rooney. Martial was the best option for the left wing as Rooney can't play there, Young is injured and Memphis is playing like shit.
If you want to keep Herrera on the field (which I believe in), then they are competing for the same position given Rooney's status. And I would pick Martial in that case, as you even stated.
 
If you want to keep Herrera on the field (which I believe in), then they are competing for the same position given Rooney's status. And I would pick Martial in that case, as you even stated.

Problem is, Van Gaal has already stated that he prefers a second striker for the numer 10 position, so even with this form I don't think Herrera will last long in the starting eleven, sadly. It clearly depends on the opposition and whether we need another body in midfield or not, but I think Rooney will play behind Martial in most games.
 
Memphis is trying too hard to be the protagonist. He needs to settle down, work on the basics and things will come together for him eventually.

Martial does seem to have better natural abilities, but striker is the hardest position in football, so he'll come into dry patches and whether he can work himself out of those will determine his standing as a player.
 
Attitude is the difference between them at the moment.

Memphis is still trying too hard, whereas Martial looks Berbatov-esque at times and probably isnt effected by the media attention as he speaks no english.
 
Attitude is the difference between them at the moment.

Memphis is still trying too hard, whereas Martial looks Berbatov-esque at times and probably isnt effected by the media attention as he speaks no english.

Attitude is hardly the only difference. Martial looks streets above as an attacking player.