Lisandro Martinez is the toast of Manchester United right now after his winner against Fulham gave the team much-needed three points in the league.
Manchester United fought a battle of attrition at Craven Cottage, with chances coming few and far in between a slow and turgid game.
It needed a pinch of freak to break the game open and Lisandro Martinez’s shot that deflected and looped over Bernd Leno provided exactly that.
His goal will take the plaudits but after the game, Ruben Amorim raved about another quality of his which his teammates don’t.
Ruben Amorim on Lisandro Martinez
Martinez joined United for the 2022/23 season and in his three years at the club, he has scored three goals across all competitions.
However, two of those have come this season, and more pertinently, both have come under Ruben Amorim, who has unlocked another facet of his game.
Martinez followed up his rocket of a strike at Anfield with another sighter here, both during difficult moments which fetched United points.
After the Fulham game, Amorim praised Martinez for his ball-playing abilities and his intrinsic knowledge of when to rush forward and create overloads, something his teammates need to improve upon.
He said: “[Defenders] are aggressive nowadays and sometimes they are the midfielders because you don’t have a lot of space between the lines.
“They are the players who have the game in front of them. When the central defenders play well with the ball, we play well. It’s something that Licha does really well and can take the ball.
“He has to continue and the other guys also have to improve in that area.”
Lisandro Martinez’s skillset is not replicable in Man Utd squad
It is a credit to Martinez that he has become indispensable under the new manager but, at the same time, it is slightly worrying because his skillset is not replicable in the current Man Utd squad.
That is because United don’t have another left-footed defender in the squad they can depend reliably upon, especially with his ball-playing ability.
Jonny Evans‘ best days are behind him while Luke Shaw is effectively a bonus member of the squad if/when he’s fit to play.
United are rightly targeting a left wing-back at present because it makes Amorim’s system tick but a left-footed centre-back should be on the agenda in the summer.
Amorim said so himself why that’s extremely necessary.
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