The greatest compliment you can pay Lisandro Martinez is that very few people talk about Manchester United’s defence any more.
Apart from those difficult early weeks of the season, when United were losing to Brentford and Brighton and Martinez was dismissed because he is only 5ft 9ins, the United back four is no longer a popular topic for debate.
Remember the Harry Maguire psychodrama during the tortuous latter days of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s regime? Error after error followed by discussion after discussion about whether Solskjaer would keep faith with the England defender.
The Man United back four is no longer a popular topic for debate thanks to Lisandro Martinez
England star Harry Maguire (pictured) can’t get in the side anymore due to Martinez’s form
Those days are gone. Maguire can’t get in the side anymore and once you’ve covered that, there is nowhere else to go.
Instead, Martinez has the defence locked down and soaked up the adulation of the United supporters after Wednesday’s 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest, which all but assured Erik ten Hag’s team of a place in the Carabao Cup final ahead of next week’s second leg at Old Trafford.
The travelling fans chanted ‘Argentina! Argentina!’ after Martinez was named man of the match by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, a treble winner with United in 1999. Another United great, Roy Keane, is also a fan.
Martinez helped the Red Devils all but secure a place in the Carabao Cup final against Forest
‘Really good character, he gives them really good balance,’ said Keane. ‘He’s got pride in his defending. You’ve seen his character and his desire. He wants to defend.
‘He’s the kind of person you want to be in the trenches with. From a defender’s point of view they’ll be delighted with a clean sheet.’
The shutout was United’s sixth clean sheet in 10 matches since club football returned after the World Cup.
Martinez won the trophy with Argentina and did not play for his club again until the 3-0 win over Bournemouth on January 3 but he has slotted back in perfectly.
The former Ajax defender helped Argentina win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in December
Martinez returned for United with his World Cup medal in their 3-0 win over Bournemouth
MARTINEZ’S STATS FOR MAN UTD
Lisandro Martinez’s Premier League statistics
Clean sheets: 5
Goals Conceded: 24
Tackles: 31
Tackle success: 52%
Last man tackles: 0
Blocked shots: 2
Interceptions: 24
Clearances: 69
Headed Clearance: 38
Clearances off line: 0
Recoveries: 98
Duels won: 69
Duels lost: 42
Successful 50/50s: 7
Aerial battles won: 23
Aerial battles lost: 16
Own goals: 0
Errors leading to goal: 0
While the questions about his height were understandable, they were also a little daft. Remember Italy’s World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro? Height: 5ft 9ins. How about Ivan Cordoba, the tigerish Colombian who spent 12 years with Inter Milan? He was an inch shorter.
At 5ft 10ins, Roberto Ayala was only an inch taller than his fellow Argentine Martinez, but no forward who came up against him was able to bully him. Then there is Carles Puyol and Franco Baresi. The list goes on.
The Premier League website features a host of statistics on every player in the competition and Martinez’s are fascinating.
The 24 interceptions suggests a sound positional sense, though he will want to improve that tackle success rate of 52 per cent. Yet the most striking one is at the bottom of the list. ‘Errors leading to goal: zero.’
With their £57million defender leading the charge, United remain in the hunt in four cup competitions. As they would have expected at the start of the season, Forest’s sole focus is now Premier League survival.
They have little chance of overturning this result in the second leg and they are already out of the FA Cup after boss Steve Cooper chose to field a weakened team at Blackpool in the third round.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was at the City Ground on Wednesday, his first visit this year.
After signing an astonishing 23 players last summer, Forest are looking for more this window – and if they didn’t know it already, Martinez’s performance should have told them to prioritise a centre-back.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was at the City Ground on Wednesday, his first visit this year
Forest have looked much more solid since the autumn when Cooper switched from a back three to a back four, yet doubts remain about the quality of Joe Worrall, Steve Cook and Scott McKenna at this level.
Willy Boly has performed well since his arrival from Wolves yet is physically fragile, while Moussa Niakhate was injured in the second game of the season and has not reappeared.
With Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson in fine form, Forest will test any time. Yet they desperately need a top-class defender to aid their bid to beat relegation. Someone like Lisandro Martinez.
source: dailymail.co.uk
