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9 months ago
53 Lisandro Martinez might be a problem in set pieces, according to Jamie Carragher, who feels that he is “too small” to be an effective central defender for Manchester United.
The Argentine World Cup champion was highly praised for his perseverance in his debut season at Old Trafford, although he missed two spells of action due to a metatarsal injury.
When fit, he is one of the first names on the team sheet as manager Erik ten Hag trusts the former Ajax star.
Carragher isn’t sure Martinez, who is 5 feet 9 inches tall, is tall enough for United to be impenetrable in corners and free kicks.
Carragher told the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet:
‘I said this when Manchester United signed him, but I did worry about Lisandro Martinez for his height.
‘If I was a manager, I would never buy a defender that small and the reason being 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 the way football is now, probably 20 years ago I used to play full-back, and you’d normally have a back four, one of your full-backs would be tall as well for set-pieces.
‘But the way the games now, because full-backs are almost like wingers, there’s not that many big players in your team, so your full-backs aren’t the biggest anymore.
‘I always think for set-pieces, your centre-backs sometimes and even your striker now – how many teams play with a massive player up front – it doesn’t really happen as much.
‘Your two centre-backs have got to be, just for set-pieces, 6ft 3in, 6ft 4in, so at least you’ve got those two pillars.’
