Manchester United Banter Archive December 19 2019

19 Dec 2019 18:57:01
{Ed's Note - DLIB has posted a new article entitled, Anthony Martial's Position At Manchester United

19 Dec 2019 19:30:16
I think 5 years in he has had more than enough time to establish himself and I remain unconvinced. You say languid, I say lazy. His movement is poor, he regularly looks moody or unhappy and whilst he clearly has real talent, he often goes missing; some games I’m actually surprised when he touches the ball as I hadn’t realised he was n the pitch. I would not be sorry to see him leave assuming we replaced him.

19 Dec 2019 20:36:54
Give him a run of games he will be fine.

19 Dec 2019 20:58:04
Not my cup of tea.
I don't like watching him despite his obvious ability. Just not my type of player or personality.

19 Dec 2019 21:15:30
How many years have we been hearing that? 'give him a run of games'.

19 Dec 2019 22:13:26
I think he will be fine once he has a proper playmaker behind him.

He has the talent and should work out.

Its no point selling him now after all the time qe have apent with him and then imagine him firing on all cylinders in another team.

19 Dec 2019 22:14:37
Looks like its martials turn to take stick from the fans, a few months ago it was rashford taking pelters.

Of course jred is right, he needs a run of games at the striker position, he has hardly played 5 games in a row there, some of that is his fault, some poor management and some rotten luck with injuries

The man can clearly finish and his link up play is very good. Excellent first touch and close control. Needs to work hard on his off the ball game.

The reality is him and rashford should be mainstays in our front 3, if the club had any ounce of football knowledge they would sign a proper right winger to play with them, a position which has been neglected for nearly a decade.

19 Dec 2019 22:15:04
The lads got talent. His constant niggling injuries though threaten to derail any chance he might have.

He finally has a manager who believes in him. He needs to stay fit and prove his quality out on the pitch.

I hope he does, I think he has all the skills to be an excellent player. But there is a shadow of doubt in my mind now. 5 years waiting for him to kick on, does make you question does he have the mentality to do it.

19 Dec 2019 22:44:57
Rashford always had the talent and his main problem is his shooting and if he improves his shooting then he can be anything he wants.

20 Dec 2019 02:33:14
Greenwood and james haven't emerged as anything. Greenwood has had 2-3 good games, he has a long way to go yet.

James on the other hand is showing all the qualities that make fans love him but are the reason of our current downfall, a great worker but not much else.

He runs around like a fully charged duracell bunny and sadly he crosses and passes like one too, we did this similar rating players off their effort rather than talent and ability, that's what has kept lingard here for so many years.

{Ed047's Note - some of you guys have been so guilty of this since Fergie left.

Talking a player into something you want rather than the reality of what they are.

20 Dec 2019 04:23:46
The main difference between Rashford and Martial is the attitude.
If things don't go well for both, Martial sulks whereas Rashford still chases lost causes and helps out defensively.

I have seen Dan James putting in some really good crosses from right wing. But both Rash and Martial, have failed to meet them. So it's clear that we need a proper striker who has those instincts inside the box.
However, both have age on their side to still improve on certain aspects.

20 Dec 2019 06:36:49
"Martial doesn't make runs or has poor movement", early Christmas cracker there. His movement off the ball is what creates the space needed for Rashford or James, it's no coincidence Rashford and others look better when he's in the side. He's got 7 goals and 3 assists too, in 16 appearances, considering his recent injuries, that isn't a bad return.

20 Dec 2019 07:55:17
Trd most of the cross from james I have seen either fail to get past the first man or are so deep that even if our players end up receiving them there isn't much they can do with it, he is a mediocre crosser at best right now.

20 Dec 2019 10:21:16
As a centre forward Martial is poor. I'd give him a go at 10 where he can pick up the ball a little deeper and run at defenses. I'm not sure he has the eye for a pass for that position though.

20 Dec 2019 10:55:41
Perhaps part of the reason for Martial not kicking on was Mourinho's preference for the big traditional number 9 centre forward, which meant he was never going to get a run of games in his best position .

20 Dec 2019 11:07:21
I think some are forgetting there's different ways to play the 9 role.

If you are judging martial as being a false 9 then he is I would say playing that role perfectly.

For comparisons he needs to be judged againt a firminio type 9 not judge against let's say a Vardy style 9.

Vardy's job is purely, be on the shoulder and score where as firminio and martial's job is to link play and pull defenders out of position more than stretch them.

20 Dec 2019 11:17:18
I think he gets a lot of unfair stick because of his languid style when he plays. I remember berbatov getting something similar when he was here. Martial is clearly very talented and we do look a much better side when he plays. He’s one of the few players who brings others into the game, he can carry the ball and is clearly a very good finisher. He does need to be more consistent, sort his injury problems out. I’m convinced he is not a natural no 9, instead he is a better second striker. If he has say someone like Haaland to play off I think we would see a far more effective player. I’m a fan of his, but I do see why he gets some stick. But I do feel it’s because he’s not someone who charges round the pitch, there is a perception he’s half arsed or lazy.

20 Dec 2019 12:52:01
Schnauzer, good post your view will be in the minority but I think you've hit the nail on the head.

20 Dec 2019 20:54:06
Park, did you just compare Martial to Berbatov? Not even playing the same game, never mind in different leagues.

20 Dec 2019 21:47:26
MancMan I meant in terms of people jumping on him because of their perceived ‘laziness’ if you will. I remember berbatov being subject to criticism because he didn’t charge around the pitch like say tevez or Rooney. Berba was one of my favourite players.

21 Dec 2019 10:10:30
Just reread it. I see what you mean Park but Berbatov was a joy to watch whereas Martial. Wasn't there some stay about Berbatov frequently covering more ground than any other player? Or did I just make that up?

19 Dec 2019 11:55:44
So, last night a victory but 1st half showed us where we are- basically short of playmakers and ideas when teams defend deeply.

Second half was better but incredibly slow in parts, but the highlight for me was the singing of the fans from 1st to last minute in the Se (normal away end) . Magnificent support.

19 Dec 2019 13:23:20
They made it hard. but we won well in the end.
Great to see martial get a scruffy tap in. He needs to score more of them.

19 Dec 2019 14:09:05
Shhhhh, don't talk so loudly. jred will try and prove that it's all a fallacy and that smaller clubs don't sit deep in a low block against us and we don't struggle against it.

It doesn't matter that the average position of their deepest defender was INSIDE the 18 yard box during the first half, and that not a single one of their players had an average position inside our half.

It definitely wasn't a low block and we definitely didn't struggle to break them down.

It was also entirely coincidental that we scored the first goal on a counter attack, attacking the space they left in behind. Also that the second and third goal was created by players running off the shoulder attacking the space IN BEHIND was again just pure chance.

The game yesterday in no way should be considered a typical game for us this season.

19 Dec 2019 14:56:33
I think that Pereira did a good job, at least he tried to make a pass forward and get players into one and one situations. Rashford waste 2 or 3 chances in the first half but good for him for keep trying until he get the goal.

19 Dec 2019 15:08:27
Shaps just because colchester played with " a low block " doesn't mean every team out side the top 6 does.
Just another ridiculous sweeping statement .
By the way in the first half andre split them open twice, good through ball to Greenwood and a great ball through to rash, neither could control it .
So is down to creativity or the strikers having a poor first touch on the occasion?

And don't forget we scored 3 against a team that played deep .

19 Dec 2019 15:54:45
True Jred we did score three, however the 1st goal was on a counter (sounds familiar) after a rare Colch attack. After that they had no option than to push out a bit.

19 Dec 2019 16:22:42
Main thing about playing against a team playing deep is how you draw them out .
Scouse are very good at it, great team on the break and even manage to score goals against teams out side the top 6.

19 Dec 2019 16:40:29
Exactly mbd, They had a rare attack, it might have even been their first of the second half and we caught them on the break with a 60 yard pass from Matic in to space which Rashford tore into and got on the end of.

Once that happened Colchester had to come out a bit more, and we took advantage of that.

19 Dec 2019 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Review Of The Day 19th December 2019

19 Dec 2019 09:36:12
Cheers Ed, as i saw Rosenthal on that list it immediately reminded me of Rommedahl, he was a speedster of that era.

{Ed001's Note - I was thinking of Ronnie Rosenthal. He was terrible after he signed permanently, then went to Spurs and made one of the worst misses of all time.}

19 Dec 2019 12:46:12
In all honesty, I do not even remember Ronny.

{Ed001's Note - he joined Liverpool on loan in the late 80s and for a few weeks couldn't stop scoring. So he signed a permanent deal and reverted to normal and couldn't hit the side of a barn. Awful player.}

19 Dec 2019 15:55:53
Oops, Michu-esque.