Jamie Carragher has outline his concern for Man Utd regarding Lisandro Martinez following the Red Devils recent victory over Newport County in the FA Cup on Sunday.
Carragher, who spent his entire career as a defender with Liverpool, has commented on his concern for Man Utd regarding Lisandro Martinez in their own back line.
Martinez returned to action at the beginning of January against Tottenham Hotspur, after sitting out for around 4 months with a serious foot injury.
The Argentinian centre-back made his move to Old Trafford in the Summer of 2022, departing Ajax with current teammate Antony to play under their former boss at the Dutch club.
The general consensus on Martinez since his arrival has been positive, with fans appreciating his dedicated style of aggressive defence and the spirit in which he represents his new club.
However, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has doubts about the World Cup winner, and has said that he would not have signed Martinez if he was in the driving seat at Man Utd.
Why does Jamie Carragher doubt Lisandro Martinez?
The reason behind Carragher’s doubts concerning Martinez stem not from his ability in the game, but in regard to his stature as a modern day centre-back.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Carragher outlined his concern when it comes to the height at which Martinez stands – suggesting that he is too small for United to make an impact from corners and other set pieces.
Carragher said “I said this when Manchester United signed him, but I do worry about Lisandro Martinez for his height.”
“If I was a manager, I would never buy a defender that small and the reason being is it’s not just him, I like him as a player and he’s got great spirit, he’s brilliant on the ball, he’s aggressive, but [because of] the way football is now.”
“20 years ago I used to play fullback, and you’d normally have a back four, one of your fullbacks would be tall as well for set pieces. But the way the game is now because full-backs are almost like wingers, there are not that many big players in your team, so your full-backs aren’t the biggest anymore.”
“Your two centre-backs have got to be, just for set pieces, 6 foot 3, 6 foot 4, so at least you’ve got those two pillars.”
This isn’t the first time that Carragher has taken aim at a Man Utd player, with the pundit taking Thierry Henry by shock when he called Rio Ferdinand a clown back in May last year!
How tall is Lisandro Martinez?
Martinez stands at 1.75m, or just under 5 feet 8 inches – leaving him a good 7 inches short of Carragher’s suggested minimum for a player of his position.
Martinez is expected to return to action alongside Man Utd this evening, as they take on Wolves in the Premier League.
If Carragher’s concerns are correct, Erik ten Hag’s men may struggle against the West Midlands side in the set-piece department – who boast an array of players who meet or breach the former Liverpool player’s 6″3 benchmark.
Man Utd and Wolves kick off at 20:15 this evening at Molineux, with the game being aired via TNT Sports 1.
