Lisandro Martinez’s passing into the final third is a real weapon for Manchester United’s attack

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Lisandro Martinez‘s rugged defensive style has led to him becoming a fan favourite at Manchester United early into his career at the club.

The Argentine is far more than just a rough-house defender, however, with tremendous passing ability which was evident in his game at Ajax.

Martinez’s passing is a weapon for the team in building attacks, possessing an ability to get the ball directly up the pitch with quick, incisive passes which bypass the opposition midfield.

This was very evident in the win over Omonia, and he was unfortunate not to end the game with an assist when his pass to set up a chance for Antony led to the Brazilian misplacing a pass of his own, instead of shooting when one on one with the goalkeeper.

Martinez’s passing into the final third is a real weapon

Martinez’s passing is a real feature of his play, driving United forward, and Erik ten Hag is happy to utilise this as part of the team’s tactical approach.

Against Omonia, Martinez completed more passes than any player on the pitch, 89 in total.

But unlike when other centre-backs do similar, with sideways passes between the pair, or into the midfielders, Martinez is constantly looking to feed the attackers.

He completed 24 passes into the final third, more than the rest of United’s backline did combined (23).

• Martinez: 24 passes into the final third
• Dalot: 11
• Shaw: 5
• Lindelof: 4
• Malacia: 3

This was also more than Casemiro (15), Christian Eriksen (20), and Bruno Fernandes (8).

Martinez’s ability to break the lines helps United to quickly turn defence into attack, and against Omonia the team had a high figure of 28 shots at goal.

Wasteful finishing prevented United winning big, but there could be some heavy scorelines in our favour to come, if the attackers can start being more ruthless.

Manager Erik ten Hag is looking to rebuild the team and Martinez’s play on and off the ball is vital to doing so. United’s ‘warrior’ is a talent who was a top priority in the summer, it’s easy to see why.