Obafemi Martins

[GeordieDazzler]

Coming from a club where he was a bit of a peripheral figure, albeit a cult one by the sound of things, into a situation where he's given the number 9 and has his name sang for 90 minutes, he must feel like he's won the lottery. As you say, he's far from the finished article, but I'm a lot less sceptical than I was this time last week. Still has a lot to do though.

 

At the great risk of being the butt-end of everyone's jokes or rolleyes smilies - can anyone tell a non ST holder like myself what the Martins song is?

 

eekout.gif

 

Oba, Obafem, Oba Obafem, Oba Obafem, Oba Obafem, Obafemi Martins!

21 or 28, 21 or 28, 21 or 28, 21or 28 Obafemi Martins!

[Cajun]

His left is as good as Michael Owen's right. Vice versa applies for his right. Trust me on this one . He's not two-footed.

 

Of his 50 goals he scored for Inter it was something like 24 with his left, 20 with his right and the rest with his head.

 

That to me suggest he may be two footed...

[James]

With the two footed argument, people are saying he only shot with his left yesterday - well thats because his left foot was the most sensible to use in the positions he was in.

 

People seem to forget the perfectly weighted right footed pass while running at pace to Duff which set up our first goal, or the decent right footed effort from 20-yards that only just skyed the bar against Levadia Talinn.

[Cajun]

With the two footed argument, people are saying he only shot with his left yesterday - well thats because his left foot was the most sensible to use in the positions he was in.

 

People seem to forget the perfectly weighted right footed pass while running at pace to Duff which set up our first goal, or the decent right footed effort from 20-yards that only just skyed the bar against Levadia Talinn.

 

To be honest I think the chance he maybe should have scored in the first half would have been more suited to his right foot as that would have curled it towards goal whereas unless he hit it with the outside of his left and done a ood job of it he would have missed which ultimately he did.

 

But i still agree he is two footed 

[James]

With the two footed argument, people are saying he only shot with his left yesterday - well thats because his left foot was the most sensible to use in the positions he was in.

 

People seem to forget the perfectly weighted right footed pass while running at pace to Duff which set up our first goal, or the decent right footed effort from 20-yards that only just skyed the bar against Levadia Talinn.

 

To be honest I think the chance he maybe should have scored in the first half would have been more suited to his right foot as that would have curled it towards goal whereas unless he hit it with the outside of his left and done a ood job of it he would have missed which ultimately he did.

 

But i still agree he is two footed 

 

I disagree, due to his slightly sluggish first touch, the ball arrived at his left foot, he had to choose between shooting on his left, or moving it onto his right and risk being closed down. Therefore shooting with his left was the best choice, only he spooned it.

[Cajun]

With the two footed argument, people are saying he only shot with his left yesterday - well thats because his left foot was the most sensible to use in the positions he was in.

 

People seem to forget the perfectly weighted right footed pass while running at pace to Duff which set up our first goal, or the decent right footed effort from 20-yards that only just skyed the bar against Levadia Talinn.

 

To be honest I think the chance he maybe should have scored in the first half would have been more suited to his right foot as that would have curled it towards goal whereas unless he hit it with the outside of his left and done a ood job of it he would have missed which ultimately he did.

 

But i still agree he is two footed 

 

I disagree, due to his slightly sluggish first touch, the ball arrived at his left foot, he had to choose between shooting on his left, or moving it onto his right and risk being closed down. Therefore shooting with his left was the best choice, only he spooned it.

 

I have only seen it the once so will agree with you then, I am just going from memory of his position in relation to keeper and goal but cant really remember his balance or how far the ball was across his body  bluebiggrin.gif

[Teasy]

Looked a different player yesterday to the one we'd seen previously.  Really promising signs and hopefully he'll go from strength to strength.  Amazing how quickly a player can adapt when they really want to be a success, unlike a certain player on our books....mentioning no names of course.

 

It is amazing how quickly a player can adapt when he actually gets a run of games in his favoured position.  Had we played Martins in midfield and given him his last 3 starts over the course of 4 months I doubt he would have started to adapt so quickly

[skryp2nit3]

Cant believe people are arguing over which is his dominant foot. 

 

He's left footed I can assure you. Just because he wouldnt hesitate to use his right to shoot doesnt mean he's 2 footed. Observe how he controls and dribbles the ball, you'll find that he's predominantly left footed.

[Guest Gemmill]

Looked a different player yesterday to the one we'd seen previously.  Really promising signs and hopefully he'll go from strength to strength.  Amazing how quickly a player can adapt when they really want to be a success, unlike a certain player on our books....mentioning no names of course.

 

It is amazing how quickly a player can adapt when he actually gets a run of games in his favoured position.  Had we played Martins in midfield and given him his last 3 starts over the course of 4 months I doubt he would have adapted so quickly

 

I think even in midfield he would have looked like he had at least once had a passing acquaintance with a football.  bluebigrazz.gif

[Cajun]

Cant believe people are arguing over which is his dominant foot. 

 

He's left footed I can assure you. Just because he wouldnt hesitate to use his right to shoot doesnt mean he's 2 footed. Observe how he controls and dribbles the ball, you'll find that he's predominantly left footed.

 

The fact that he has scored almost as many goals with his "weaker" foot as he has with his left suggests to me he is two footed. Yes he has a stronger foot but all two footed players do!

[Lenny]

just watched a vid of some of his goals, looks comfortable wit both feet!can smash the ball pretty hard wit both! saw some amusin celebration where he was doin some weird dance shortly before one of his teammates rugby tackles him!lol

[James]

I think the most important thing is that because we are arguing as to what his best foot is and whether he could have hit a shot he missed with his right or left after just four games, he must be quite good.

[Cajun]

I think the most important thing is that because we are arguing as to what his best foot is and whether he could have hit a shot he missed with his right or left after just four games, he must be quite good.

 

I have very high hopes, I wont say exactly how high because people will laugh at me and call me an idiot but lets just say i think he has a bright future here.

[Guest Knightrider]

Having watched the extended highlights I was rather impressed by his performance and his link up play with Ameobi and Duff especially. We all know he has bags of pace but he looked much stronger, sharper and he has a surprisingly good leap on him, winning lots of headers or challenging their centre-halfs quite well. His control is a bit sloppy but he has all the time in the world to improve on his weaknesses given his, err, age

 

I think with some players you can tell if they are going to make it or not and Martins falls into the make it camp for me because he has what is needed for this league and is at the right age. And of course, it is always welcoming to see a new player show such an appetite and a hunger to make an impression and actually do just that, in 3 games or so as well. What were people whinging about

[James]

For me, he is a 15 goal a season kind of guy, who can bring more than just goals to the team, but create goals, and create space for us to operate. We'll need to get another player matching his goal tally I think if we want to succeed, some are expecting him to score too many goals, and I hope he isn't criticised when he doesn't do so.

 

He is not a No. 9, out-and-out-striker, but that type of player is very rare these days, I actually think that Andy Johnson is the only player of this type that exists in the Premiership right now.

[garth]

Jesus christ! I can't believe you guys are talking about his left or right foot get a fucking life you guys, 3 days ago he was just another Foreign flop now he's the bees knees. Fickle! tongue.gif

[Guest Knightrider]

For me, he is a 15 goal a season kind of guy, who can bring more than just goals to the team, but create goals, and create space for us to operate. We'll need to get another player matching his goal tally I think if we want to succeed, some are expecting him to score too many goals, and I hope he isn't criticised when he doesn't do so.

 

He is not a No. 9, out-and-out-striker, but that type of player is very rare these days, I actually think that Andy Johnson is the only player of this type that exists in the Premiership right now.

 

I doubt he's a 20-25 a season man as well, he'll be another Bellamy for us, good for a decent goal haul himself (10-15) but more of a provider for others and an outlet for the team than anything else which I'll be happy with providing someone else is there to score the majority of goals ala Shearer and Bellamy together.

[Keefaz]

We should get that Michael Owen fella; knows where the net is.

[Guest smoggeordie]

Like I said earlier, for me Oba at 21 is beter than Bellamy at 21. I think he'll notch a few more goals over the course of a season than Bellamy did and I also think he'll create more, for the simple fact he's physically stronger than Bellamy was.

[Minhosa]

Depending on how Owen is when he returns I'd love to see a forward three of

 

 

                                                  ASHTON

 

                      MARTINS                                      OWEN

 

With the pace of the two lads running off Ashton, we could be highly effective and quite entertaining to watch, which would be a nice change.

 

The joy of that formation would be the ability to interchange with Duff, the Zog, Milner (poss), Ameobi and (Dare I say it?.........) Dyer if EVER fit.

 

I'd then play a physically strong three behind them. Part of the reason I wanted Graveson TBH. Him, Parker & Emre behind a forward three looking something like that would be awesome.

 

The only difficulty would be keeping everyone happy. Wouldn't it be great to have that problem?

[Lenny]

how old was bellamy when he signed for us?

[Lenny]

makes u wonder if martins - owen would work in a 4-4-2 formation, i think it could, but an arsenal style of play would need to be adopted, lots of thru balls and passin rather than lumped in from everywhere

[Guest Knightrider]

Like I said earlier, for me Oba at 21 is beter than Bellamy at 21. I think he'll notch a few more goals over the course of a season than Bellamy did and I also think he'll create more, for the simple fact he's physically stronger than Bellamy was.

 

When we first signed Bellamy I thought we'd signed an average player with a bit of pace which I still stick to today as he was just that but he improved himself greatly and came on in leeps and bounds that first full season. By the end of his time at the club his finishing and control had improved massively and he had become a top-class player which he is today. Martins has a bit of work to do to get to that level but as you say, he looks as good as or if not better than the Bellamy we signed from Coventry. Fingers crossed. What I like about Martins is his agility which we lacked up front with Shearer in the side, he moves about well and he pounces like a cat. You can see him benefiting from mistakes and lapses in concentration a lot as the season wears on.

[ChezGiven]

Like I said earlier, for me Oba at 21 is beter than Bellamy at 21. I think he'll notch a few more goals over the course of a season than Bellamy did and I also think he'll create more, for the simple fact he's physically stronger than Bellamy was.

 

He looked a bit lightweight yesterday at times though, totally bounced off Ferdinand in quite a comical fashion in the first half.

 

Mad comparing him to Bellamy who struggled at Coventry (still hated) after getting 10 to 15 goals a season for Norwich. Martins was scoring as well if not better for Inter. In Serie A.

 

Better than Bellamy at 21 by miles.

[Guest Knightrider]

Aye he's a huge talent, I guess we are all going to have to remind ourselves that he is still a bairn I suppose as he forges his career at United.