Lisando Martinez’s blossoming quality has vindicated Erik ten Hag’s plan
There were a lot of question marks when Manchester United signed Lisandro Martinez in a £55million deal from Ajax in the summer.
Erik ten Hag was keen to add a centre-back to his squad and felt Martinez’s profile would suit the way he wants to play, having worked with him at the Dutch giants. The signing was slammed by some pundits, however, with Rio Ferdinand raising a concern over his height and physicality, while others were worried by his lack of presence at the back.
Those fears intensified after the Red Devils’ 4-0 defeat at Brentford, when Martinez struggled to deal with the threat of Ivan Toney and the Bees’ strength. He received more brutal criticism after the game, with Gary Neville questioning whether United can play a back four with Martinez in it and claiming that teams will “target” him.
But Martinez has responded well and is seemingly enjoying his football, with the Red Devils winning six of their last eight matches in all competitions. Although he isn’t the tallest at a mere 5’9″, his strengths lie with the ball at his feet and aggression on the floor, rather than dealing with high crosses and deliveries.
With Raphael Varane partnering Martinez in central defence, United have figured out a way to balance the backline and play to the latter’s strengths. The Argentinian has been excellent in recent weeks and his distribution has been praised more than anything else, with Martinez becoming the expert of the line-breaking pass.
It is a skill that was lauded by Ajax fans last season and Martinez is beginning to produce the same pass on a weekly basis for the Red Devils. In fact, Martinez made 50 forward passes in United’s win over Omonia Nicosia on Thursday night, the most of any player in a Europa League game this season.
The Red Devils came from behind to earn a 3-2 victory over the Cypriot side, with Martinez playing a major hand in Anthony Martial’s strike. The defender’s expertly-placed forward pass found the feet of Marcus Rashford, who laid the ball off for Martial to take a touch before drilling the ball into the corner of the net.
Ten Hag’s men were struggling for invention and needed a bit of guile to open up a compact Omonia backline, with the scores locked at 1-1. And Martinez was able to fire a killer pass between the lines, leading to United’s second goal. Rashford scored the Red Devils’ other two as they secured their second win from three matches in their Europa League group.
No matter how much Martinez will get criticised for his lack of height, he was brought in to bring composure on the ball and the ability to start attacks. Harry Maguire also has the on-the-ball quality to break the lines with forward passes, there’s no doubt about it. But he is completely shot of confidence and hasn’t put in consistently good performances for a while.
During the 2019/20 season, Maguire passed progressively 86 per cent of the time. This was more than Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof, who were United’s other first-choice centre-backs at the time. Something has clearly gone wrong for the former Hull City man, as his game isn’t quite up to the required standard.
Martinez has taken the responsibility of being United’s most important defender with both hands, but he will need to continue his impressive form without Varane. The Frenchman is expected to be out for the foreseeable after picking up an injury in the Manchester derby, while Maguire is still out.
This means Martinez will partner Lindelof for the Red Devils’ trip to Everton on Sunday evening. The pair started together against Omonia and struggled to deal with their threat in-behind, and it could be another worry for United fans, with Everton blessed with so much pace in Anthony Gordon and Demarai Gray.
