Owen Hargreaves praised Manchester United centre-back, Lisandro Martinez, for his impressive defensive display for the club.
The Red Devils have recently been in fantastic form, being unbeaten in 8 games. The club is undoubtedly making strides under Erik ten Hag, and this can also be seen in our league standing, as we are only one point behind the top four teams with one game remaining.
A strong defensive structure has been one of the key drivers of this success. The defence deserves praise for maintaining control of the game and making it difficult for the opposition to score. Former Ajax player Martinez has been a key member of the defence and has played the most minutes of any first-team defender. He undoubtedly strengthened the defence and gave the backline more grit.
The player was praised similarly by former Manchester United player Owen Hargreaves, who referred to him as the cornerstone of the United defence. As reported by the Manchester Evening News, he said:
“Erik ten Hag has got Manchester United winning games they would not have won last season. They are in a good position, defensively they are so much improved. They will be delighted. Lisandro Martinez is the main man in that back four.”
Martinez has been the subject of numerous comments from pundits that he would not succeed in the Premier League because of his short stature. Hargreaves, who made 39 appearances for Manchester United, has put a stop to those claims. The Argentine star has brought a sense of toughness and steel to the team that we have been lacking for a while, and his skill set appears to raise the bar for defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw.
In a system where the fullback must overlap to attack, a left-footed centre-back is very helpful, and Martinez offers the ideal defence in the event of a counterattack. He is great with his heading skills, providing a proper answer to the doubters who claimed he wasn’t good enough for the league after the first two games. He is very comfortable on the ball and playing from the back, giving the squad another channel to pass into.
The turnaround in our performance and form is mostly attributable to a transformation in the players’ mindset, and credit for this should go to recent additions Martinez and Antony, whose fighting spirit and tenacity seem to have spread across the team.
