72 - Since his debut for Manchester United in September 2015, Anthony Martial has been directly involved in more goals (72 - 46 goals, 26 assists) than any of his teammates in all competitions. Renewed. pic.twitter.com/INJUHaFSz0— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 31, 2019
The deadline day timing is a bit cynical in some ways, but what the hell - good news is good news Today just got a whole lot better! 😄 #MUFC— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 31, 2019
Another big statement from Woodward following Mourinho's departure last month. Very well done on his part. Now into new deals for Dave, Herrera, then Pogba (within the coming year). More importantly though, we need to complement the talent we currently have with some additional big time players.
Yet neither were deemed worthy to make it for their national sides for the WC. Deschamps got away with it, because of the wealth of talent at his disposal (plus truthfully, Martial bc he had been frozen out by Mourinho hadn't played enough to be in contention). But Lowe surely must regret his decision big time, even if he may never admit publicly. Even more so when you consider that what Sane is doing this season is simply a continuation of last season, where he was just as brilliant.
So happy to have him signed, but goddamn... 200k/week!? I suppose if we didn't sign him for that amount, someone else would have. Glad to have him on board.
Ole challenges Martial to improve. https://www.skysports.com/football/...tial-to-keep-improving-after-signing-new-deal
Give the ball to Anthony and we will win, Mata on Martial https://www.goal.com/en/news/i-alwa...l-to-anthony-and-we/q24sz7fec67c1h82xax0q8mta
Martial can emulate Ronaldo - Ole https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47193119 Love how Ole is setting very high goals for our young talent (did the same previously with Rashford). Admittedly, those are very lofty targets, but they are both special young players. And ultimately, they may not get to such heights, but even if they get just halfway there, it will be a good accomplishment. The bottom line is that this is just the latest example of terrific care and man management from Ole towards the players. How fortunate is the club (and everyone associated with it) that we've literally got the opposite of Mourinho in almost every conceivable way. It's kind of freaky if you think about it. And why for me while I've stated we should not be in any rush in giving him the job full time and let things play out, I do believe that it's his job to lose at this point. Experience aside, he just looks like the perfect manager for us.
If he can achieve half of what Ronnie acheieved i will be happy. He has more talent than Rashford but happy to have this debate.
Martial is feeling the Ole effect. https://www.skysports.com/football/...-gunnar-solskjaer-effect-at-manchester-united He was the one exception amongst offensive players who did produce under Mourinho (at the end at least). His numbers still have improved in certain areas since Ole took over.
We need to work on his movement (as acknowledged by Ole and others). Given his rate of conversion, if we can get his shot volume up above 4 per game, he'll be among contenders for the league's top scorers. For now, I'll settle for getting his shot volume above 3 by season's end. Some of that is going to come down to his movement and desire to get into goal scoring positions. Some of that is going to come from Pogba being a little more selective in his own shooting (this has already started) and at some point Rashford passing up a shot.
I include awareness in that movement piece he has to work on. He needs to run without the ball with a purpose whether defensively or offensively. He needs to be aware of where he needs to be at every moment with a sense of urgency of making a decision.
I would agree with this and as benni says definitely early in games. However one thing we can say for sure is Mourinho was able to instill a greater work ethic when we don't have the ball. He is better at tracking runners now and works harder defensively than he did before. I'm ok with that, but honestly, I'd rather he get better at pressing (which he's really bad at) because teams of our stature don't need our best attackers to track back, we need them to force mistakes high up the pitch.
Excellent post .. The numbers under Jose improved because he was moving in central (pogs not advancing) more than under ole and as pointed out Pogs moving in box does acquire his position and mostly he tries to pick out Pogs when Pogs is marauding into box or looking for pass to CF. Rashford also needs to bring Martial more into play instead of trying to shoot when a better option is available.
It is a fine balancing act. Rashford is like a hammer and sees everything as a nail. That's the mentality that led to his goal from a stupid angle (can't remember against whom) and his assist for Pogba after the sombrero and elastico. We don't want to beat the direct play out of him. We need to get him to do that sort of stuff when either there's not much to lose or a great deal to gain.
In the end though, we simply can't underestimate or dismiss the fact that both Rashford and Martial were not coached properly in the past couple of seasons, and that ultimately had a negative effect on their development as young footballers. The fact that as soon as Mourinho left, we started seeing a clear uptick and improvement of their performances, speaks volume on that matter. Ole has had less than 2 months to work with them and there is little doubt that the more time they spend under him, the more we'll see clear progress in both their games (especially in regards to what it takes to become top, top forwards). They both are still young players with tons to learn and having someone to coach and teach them (as they have now in Ole) is crucial to them. And odds are, will serve them in good stead in regards to what they will become eventually.
Deschamps has been impressed with Martial's form this season. https://www.skysports.com/football/...by-anthony-martials-form-at-manchester-united A recall to the national team really should be incoming.
Martial pulls out of France squad with "recurrence of knee injury". Doesn't sound too good. https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...-news/man-utd-anthony-martial-injury-15989065 https://metro.co.uk/2019/03/17/anth...rance-squad-picking-injury-vs-wolves-8918348/