Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has been disproportionately scrutinised despite a fairly impressive start to his Red Devils career.
Martinez has won back to back man of the match awards, helping Manchester United to a 1-0 win over Southampton at the weekend.
This wasn’t enough to spare him from criticism from Graeme Souness on Monday, who told Talksport he was confident the defender was not going to be a success in the Premier League.
Perhaps the ire of Souness and another critic, Gabby Agbonlahor, would be better targeted at players who actually deserve criticism instead?
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Chelsea pair struggle in defeat to Southampton
While Lisandro Martinez has been heavily criticised after his £46 million move to United, £33 million Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly appears to have got off for free, despite already picking up a red card this season.
Koulibaly returned to the Chelsea side for their visit to Southampton last night, and both he and Thiago Silva struggled as Thomas Tuchel’s side lost 2-1.
Silva and Koulibaly won just three aerial duels combined. Thiago Silva won just 1/5 he contested, while Koulibaly won only 2/4.
This pales in comparison to Lisandro Martinez who won more than both players in Manchester United’s win against the Saints, winning 5/5 aerial duels.
The performance of the Chelsea centre-backs highlights what a great job Martinez did at the weekend.
He was named in the BBC team of the week, while Rio Ferdinand also talked up his performance, so the Argentine did get some credit for his display. It just wasn’t enough.
His detractors are determined to run him down, waiting for the moment he puts a foot wrong. So far he has shown a remarkable ability to rise to the pressure.
Let’s see if there is any attention from the media on Koulibaly and Silva after last night’s defeat. Perhaps that only happens if a defender is 5ft 9″.
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