Absence makes the heart grow fonder – but it can also lead to a sense of forgetfulness.
Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez has endured a torrid time with absence following his £57 million move from Ajax in 2022.
Repeated injuries have led the Argentina international to miss 78 games for club and country over the past three years. By comparison, during three seasons in Amsterdam, Martinez missed just 14 matches.
The 27-year-old is currently recovering from an ACL injury in his left knee, sustained in the 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace at the beginning of February. Previously, he’s suffered an MCL in his right knee and a broken metatarsal in his right foot, which then relapsed and required another surgery.
El Carincero – the Butcher, as Martinez was affectionately nicknamed by Ajax fans – has spent more time on the receiving end of a surgeon’s knife than he has dishing out his own brand of violent punishment to opposition attackers since arriving at Old Trafford.
The Return of the Forgotten Man
Martinez is expected to begin first-team training during pre-season but a full return to the pitch is not anticipated until mid-September, though this would still constitute an accelerated timeline from the initial projection back in February.
But this extended absence has led to a sense of amnesia amongst the Red Devils’ fanbase, exacerbated by the emergence of Ayden Heaven.
The 18-year-old centre-back has made a strong impression in Martinez’s stead after his switch from Arsenal in the January transfer window, demonstrating a confidence and skill with the ball at his feet which belies his age. His left footedness makes him an ideal deputy to his Argentinian teammate.
Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system requires the centre-backs, particularly those stationed on the ‘outside’ channels, to play a significant role in the build-up phase, stepping forward with the ball to help progress it through the midfield.
And while Heaven has shown the potential to thrive with this demand, he is an inexperienced defender prone to mistake, as the recent pre-season friendly against West Ham highlighted.
Despite his struggles with injury, Martinez, an adopted son of Ajax’s school of progressive football, remains United’s most adroit defender in possession and the team’s most incisive passer of the ball.
El Carnicero will be welcomed back by Amorim with open arms in September because the Portuguese coach knows just how integral his defender’s skillset is to effectively implementing his system.
The Best Passer at Old Trafford
Martinez’s ability to progress play from deep is world-class and undoubtedly his strongest attribute, as recognised by Pep Guardiola following United’s 2-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final last year.
“Lisandro Martínez is [in the] top five centre‑backs in the world. He made the difference on this game by playing passes through our defence,” the Spanish manager stated in a post-match interview at Wembley.
Amorim’s system employs a midfield pivot at a time when the footballing consensus is to play a three-man unit in the middle of the pitch. This requires the central pairing to be as concerned with pressing and counter-pressing as they are with passing, given they are consistently outnumbered.
But the advantage to this set-up is the presence of an extra player in defence, with the centre-backs instructed to play high to help buttress the midfield. These defenders must have excellent technical ability and combine aggression with anticipation – areas Martinez thrives in.
There is a flip side, however. The combative Argentine is not without flaw.
Martinez will always struggle with the physical demands of Premier League football as he is an undersized centre-back, standing just 5’9, who has poor acceleration and top-end speed. Jamie Carragher identified this as an issue in the beginning of Martinez’s career in England but was made to eat his words by the end of an impressive debut campaign.
Yet, in fact, it was more a case of a broken clock being right twice a day for the former Liverpool defender as his initial diagnosis was correct – and it’s an area of concern given the potential impact of recurrent injuries, particularly ones as serious as Martinez has suffered.
When stationed as an outside centre-back in a back-three, there is more space to defend as the wing-back will be instructed to relentlessly push forward.
Martinez will need to demonstrate he is still capable of winning these battles out wide if he is to thrive in Amorim’s system without the ball, because the 27-year-old will always be a colossus with it, as evidenced by his performances prior to his injury in February.
Martinez produced two superb game-winning assists during the winter period, after initial struggles to adapt to Amorim’s system: Amad’s last-gasp winner against City at the Etihad in December and Bruno Fernandes’ late volley to beat Rangers at Old Trafford in January.
Both assists were picture-perfect examples of the way in which Amorim wants his defenders to affect the game in possession – and there are few centre-backs in the Premier League who are capable of recreating them.
Martinez appeared to be clicking with the rhythm Amorim requires from his defenders in a way few players elsewhere in the team had managed, only for the cruel hand of fate to intervene with another devastating injury.
If the Argentine can return to the fold at the same level he left it, he may quickly become one of his manager’s most important players, despite very quickly having become an afterthought at Old Trafford over the past six months.
Bruno Fernandes is undoubtedly United’s most important player, but the 30-year-old will be playing at the heart of Amorim’s side next season. And it will be up to the extra defender to step in and help the Portugal international, or he will drown against superior numbers in midfield.
Martinez can function as Fernandes’ life raft – and that may very well make him as integral to the Red Devils’ success as his captain.
Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
