Pep Guardiola full of praise for Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez
Speaking in Friday’s press conference ahead of the Manchester derby as quoted by Manchester Evening News, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has rubbished claims about the height of Red Devils defender Lisandro Martinez.
The Spanish tactician went on to praise the 24-year-old’s defending and admitted that he was a solid signing for Erik ten Hage’s team.]He reiterated that the Argentinian centre-back’s height wouldn’t be a problem in the derby.
After a couple of shaky performances at the beginning of the season, Martinez has really settled well into life at Old Trafford and has formed a solid defensive partnership with French centre-back Raphael Varane until now.
The former Ajax man has shown the qualities that Eik ten Hag demands from a central defender and his passing out from the back is really helping the Red Devils. Martinez is very tenacious in his play and doesn’t shy away from a tackle.
The fact that he has already played under the manager during their time together at Amsterdam seems to be really helping Martinez. He knows what exactly the Dutchman expects and is able to provide just that.
Pep Guardiola has coached short players all through his career as a manager. He very famously put Javier Mascherano in central defence for Barcelona. Lisandro Martinez is 0.1cm taller than Mascherano and Guardiola is sure that the Man United man will succeed.
“Erling is taller, that’s for sure. He’s a fantastic player, aggressive, good build-up. United paid this money, Erik [ten Hag] knows him. It’s not the first time he’s played against taller strikers, he handles it. [It’s] important to be intelligent, brave”
It is true what the Spanish coach says. Although Martinez might not have a height advantage, he has so many other attributes that make him a solid central defender and the Argentinian will have a lot of success at Manchester.
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The derby is a great game for Martinez to prove all his doubters wrong. If he can keep the much more physical Erling Haaland at bay, a lot of noise surrounding him will die down and the Argentinian can play his game in peace.
Lisandro Martinez is a solid piece of business by the Red Devils, it’s only a matter of time before people realize this and stop doubting his abilities.
