Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has named the four players who set the standards for the Premier League giants on the training pitch while singling out Lisandro Martinez ahead of Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off with Everton.
When you consider that two of Erik ten Hag’s chosen quartet have missed large portions of the season through injury, then you can perhaps understand why the under-pressure Dutchman has been left wondering what might have been if he’d had his first-choice XI available for much of the campaign.
Ten Hag feels Manchester United may be as many as fourteen wins better off if it wasn’t for an injury curse – self-inflicted or not – which has hung like a black cloud over a difficult 2023/24.
Casemiro missed a number of months before Christmas. Lisandro Martinez, meanwhile, lasted only a few games when making his return, only to be ruled out for another eight weeks or so after picking up another injury in February’s 3-0 win over West Ham United.
Manchester United are missing Lisandro Martinez
“(Raphael) Varane, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Lisandro Martinez,” Ten Hag tells TNT Sports when asked to name the four players who set the standards behind the scenes at Carrington.
“When he (Martinez) is on the training pitch, he is always on the front foot.”
It is no coincidence that Manchester United’s defensive record – largely impressive during Ten Hag’s first season at the helm – has taken a nosedive without Martinez available. The World Cup winner is not only United’s best defender, he is also the finest player in Ten Hag’s roster when it comes to breaking the lines and springing attacks from deep.
There is, at least, some hope that Martinez can return before the end of the campaign. Luke Shaw, Ten Hag said at his pre-Everton press conference, may also still have a part to play, though Tyrell Malacia looks destined to miss the entirety of 2023/24 with an injury which has proven to be far more troublesome than first thought.
Man United face Everton today
“Lisandro Martinez helped me a lot because he was injured also,” United winger Amad Diallo said last week, naming the blood-soaked Butcher as the club’s toughest player.
“Every time, when we are at training, he spoke with me and said: ‘It’s nothing, Amad. Keep training hard’. Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro also. They are good leaders.
“(Martinez) is very strong in the training. For him, the training is like the Champions League final. He never trains easy. He goes stronger, so it’s harder to train against him.”
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
