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Is there 'nothing Martinez can do'?
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- Is there 'nothing Martinez can do'?
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Manchester City losing again is a surprise, a 1-0 win for the Arsenal certainly isn't, but another week and another Manchester United crisis is becoming painfully predictable.
They haven't won in nine; they sit only two points off the bottom of the league; senior players have hit out at the hierarchy and the board is in the firing line.
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Against that backdrop, most felt that Michael Carrick would be gone by now.
I wasn't so sure.
With Roma, Aston Villa , Sporting and Liverpool coming up after Chelsea , the directors knew that their next choice could have had a disastrous start had they moved too quickly. No matter how good he is, that is a brutal introduction for a newbie with a struggling side.
They probably reckoned it was best for Carrick to take the hits until after that run. If he turns it around in the meantime, then that works too because they get out of the danger zone. The only problem is that they could be staring up from the bottom of the Premier League by then.
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The debacle against Chelsea revolved around Lisandro Martinez and his addiction to defending in a way that is not only increasingly unfashionable, but is also being actively cracked down on by the referees.
In times gone past, not looking at the ball as it was crossed but instead concentrating on blocking and manhandling the forward, was de rigueur, especially for some South American defenders. With wrestling going on everywhere in the penalty area, that behaviour got lost in the chaos. Not any more, with the reinterpretation of the rules and VAR on the lookout for this way of halting opponents.
You'd think Martinez would have spotted this himself having been caught out against Spurs , costing his side two points. He has been penalised already this season for not looking at the ball when crosses are sent in, so why does he still do it?
Is that the only way he feels he can defend?
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The times they are a-changin'.
Other ex-players think he has simply downed tools because his contract is running out and he knows he is leaving, but I suspect it is more about his style suddenly becoming obsolete in the Premier League.
Martinez, at 5ft 9in, simply isn't tall enough for the job of defending as it is now. I suspect this is why he developed his disruptive technique of looking at the attackers, rather than the more direct combative style of other more conventional centre-backs.
If he concentrated solely on classical defending, then taller, stronger attackers would simply out-jump or outmuscle him - and Lisandro knows this.
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Considering this situation, maybe there should even be some sympathy along with the anger.
There is probably nothing Martinez can do about his predicament.
Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here .
